The Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers are in different but similar situations going into this summer. While the Lakers still have a future with Luka Doncic at the helm, both teams are looking to capitalize on their final seasons with LeBron James and Steph Curry leading the way. Therefore, in what’s expected to be a wild offseason, both franchises will need to be active to capitalize.
A position of need for both teams is center, with the Lakers striking out on a deal to land Charlotte Hornets’ Mark Williams at the trade deadline after a physical canceled the deal. With Boston Celtics star Kristaps Porzingis expected to be a top center option, a recent report indicates another Eastern Conference All-Star big could be on the move.
According to Chris Fedor of cleveland.com, the Cleveland Cavaliers could entertain trade offers for starting center Jarrett Allen. Allen was an All-Star for the Cavaliers during the 2021-22 season, and has averaged 14.7 points and 10.1 rebounds per game in 334 regular season games with the franchise.
While Allen doesn’t possess the floor spacing abilities of modern bigs like Nikola Jokic and Karl-Anthony Towns, he does have a commanding presence in the interior and finished this regular season leading the league in field goal percentage at 70.6%.
Allen is under contract for the next four seasons, meaning his asking price won’t be easy to meet. However, Cleveland could feel pressure to make changes after a disappointing playoff exit, and could look to turn Allen into some depth pieces and draft capital instead.
