AUGUST 2: Allen’s extension is official, the Cavaliers announced in a press release.
“We couldn’t be more excited that Jarrett Allen chose to extend in Cleveland for the prime of his career,” president of basketball operations Koby Altman said. “Jarrett’s growth as a player, at just 26 years old, was accelerated when he earned his first All-Star selection in 2022. He is the anchor of our core group of players and his presence fits our vision for sustainable success. Jarrett also embodies the culture and values of our organization, and we look forward to achieving even greater things together.”
JULY 31: The Cavaliers and center Jarrett Allen have agreed to a three-year extension that will begin in 2026/27, when the big man’s current deal expires, agent Derrick Powell tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
According to Wojnarowski, the deal will be worth the maximum that Allen can receive on a veteran extension, which is just shy of $91MM over three years.
Players are permitted to receive up to 40% raises in the first year of an extension and Allen will make $20MM in 2025/26. That means he’ll earn $28MM in the first year of his new deal, followed by salaries of $30.24MM in ’27/28 and $32.48MM in ’28/29, for a total of $90.72MM.
Allen, 26, has spent the past three-and-a-half seasons in Cleveland, emerging as one of the NBA’s most reliable starting centers during that time. After starting his career in Brooklyn, he became a Cavalier as a result of the four-team blockbuster trade in January 2021 that sent James Harden to Brooklyn, then re-signed with the Cavs on a five-year, $100MM contract during the summer of 2021.
Allen was named an All-Star in 2022 and has averaged 15.1 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.2 blocks in 31.8 minutes per game with a .642 FG% across 252 outings (241 starts) since arriving in Cleveland. He established new career highs in PPG (16.5) and APG (2.7) this past season, but a rib injury in April ended his season early, sidelining him for the Cavs’ last eight playoff games, including the entire second-round series vs. Boston.
Allen is the third Cavaliers starter to agree to a lucrative multiyear contract extension this offseason, joining Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley. Cleveland will now have its top four players – Mitchell, Mobley, Allen, and Darius Garland – under contract through at least 2027 — Mitchell holds a player option for 2027/28.
While Allen has been the subject of some trade speculation in recent years – the Pelicans are known to have significant interest in him – signing this extension will make him ineligible to be dealt for six months.
Unless he waits until August 7 or later to sign his new contract, Allen will become trade-eligible prior to the February 6 trade deadline.
Okeke, who played a couple of college seasons at Auburn, was the 16th overall pick of the 2019 draft. He has spent the past five years with the Magic, holding career averages of 6.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 189 regular season games, including 55 starts (20.3 minutes per contest). He posted a .383/.318/.789 shooting line over that span.