How Jarrett Allen fits in the Cavs’ ‘Core Four’ pecking order

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How Jarrett Allen fits in the Cavs’ ‘Core Four’ pecking order

Spencer Davies, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Sat, Sep 27, 2025 ·

7 min read

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The post How Jarrett Allen fits in the Cavs' 'Core Four' pecking order appeared first on ClutchPoints .

As long as the Cleveland Cavaliers have had their Core Four intact, the organization has stood by its side from the top down. There's good reason for that if the last two league champions are used as a measuring stick for success.

"The last three years, we've had the third-best record in the NBA, third to Boston and OKC," Cavs president Koby Altman told reporters in his preseason press conference on Tuesday at Cleveland Clinic Courts. "And so I just urge everyone here, and we know this internally, don't take this run for granted. Don't take this group for granted.

"Winning is extremely hard in this NBA, especially with the parity with the new CBA. The competition level, that talent level coming into this league, it's extraordinarily hard to win in this league. And this group continues to do it night in, night out, season after season, and set ourselves up."

But now that the franchise is being declared "championship ready ," it's clear who is the highest in the pecking order among that quartet.

Evan Mobley has been tabbed as a future MVP candidate with an appetite for top-five status this season. Donovan Mitchell is the unquestioned standard-bearer of the group, with a star-studded resume and emotional intelligence beyond his years.

In his weight-gain journey, Darius Garland is drawing similarities to Stephen Curry 's trajectory. Jarrett Allen , though much less involved offensively, is referred to as the defense's "linchpin."

"I think each year, the Core Four grows. Even though we're particularly young, we've had a lot of experience," Altman said. "And so, obviously, we want to see Evan take another jump. We want Darius to get healthy. He had the best year of his career last year, the most efficient year of his career. Same thing with Donovan.

"And like I said before, that core group is 26.5. If I thought they were done growing, then we would look to do something. But when you have a group that talented, that young and under team control, we hand it off to the coaching staff and say, 'Continue to grow these guys, continue to elevate their careers,' respectively. They bring tremendous character to this building.

"These are four guys that signed extensions to be in Cleveland for the long term. We were one of the only teams in the NBA to have three All-Stars, and so, I'm not breaking that up. This is something you want to stick with. Like I said, don't take this for granted. This is a special group. This is a special era, and we hope to encapsulate that with some real playoff success and a championship to come. But this group has accomplished a lot, and they're still young and hungry and still growing."

Atkinson's arrival changes the calculus

As recently as two seasons ago, Allen was a pivotal offensive weapon in the high pick-and-roll and as a lob threat, with both the highest usage and true shooting percentage to that point in his career. Ex-Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff was enamored by his pairing with Mobley, oftentimes going with big-to-big high-low plays when Allen wasn't screen-and-diving to the paint.

When Cleveland hired Atkinson last summer, many saw the team's priority shifting toward a more modern approach to the offense, but the root motive was player development. That tied directly into Garland and Mobley. Although Allen is still young in his own right with All-Star ability, the Cavs wanted to bring Mobley along as a focal point and instill confidence again in an injury-riddled Garland.

With Mitchell focusing on making the right plays and allowing those two to mature, Atkinson accomplished that goal.

In addition to winning his first NBA Defensive Player of the Year honors, Mobley made the All-NBA Second Team , averaging a career-high 18.5 points per game with increased responsibility and an improved outside shot. Garland increased his three-point volume and was the maestro of the wine-and-gold attack, making it back to the All-Star Game for the first time since 2022.

Allen was on that stage with Garland three years ago, but since Atkinson's arrival, the big man has been less featured in sets and had to sacrifice for the team's betterment last year. Every one of his teammates spoke to his professionalism.

It's not easy going from a highly involved weapon to becoming a clean-up center that sets great screens, grabs boards, and focuses every bit of energy on protecting the rim. But Allen embraced the role without a peep. "He's part of our Core Four," said Atkinson, coming to Allen's defense regarding the Indiana Pacers series.

Altman, too, pushed back on Allen's toughness being in question and at anyone pointing the finger at him for the early playoff exit: "He played 82 straight games last year. You've got to have some resilience to do that. He played every single playoff game last year, five double-doubles in the playoffs.

"Look, I think everyone wishes they had the Indiana series back, including missing our All-Star point guard [Garland]. Give Indiana credit, the incredible run led by Coach (Rick) Carlisle. Also, they knew we were down a point guard, and so picking up 94 feet, stretching the floor was a great strategy, and it hurt us. I wish we had our All-Star point guard for that series. I think that was, to me, one of the bigger takeaways is not having that ball-handling against that pressure. Look, Jarrett is a great player. He's been to the All-Star game. He's been a mainstay. He's the reason we have the defense we have. And so to just point to him, I think, is unfair."

The moment the Cavs drafted Mobley in 2021, they knew he'd eventually become the ideal modern-day five to space the floor, make plays, and knock down shots at all three levels. Now that Atkinson's masterminding and Mobley's tireless work have the rising forward on that path, Cleveland will have to find a way to involve Allen differently.

"I do think that was one of the offseason deep dives: How can we use him better? How can we take advantage of him when a team goes five-out, whether it's on the offensive end or defensive end? I'm not going to get into the specifics," Atkinson said.

"But when you have a player that good and that talented, it's on us as coaches to help them. I do think you'll see some shifts there on how we use him, not radical by any means, because we really want to lean on his strengths. But we can help Jarrett, especially when you're talking about these five-out teams that can hurt you. But he has all the ability to execute any coverage we want. We've just got to figure out what the best thing is for him."

Reading the tea leaves on the seven-footers' differing skill sets, they were going to converge at some point. Finding ways to make this version of Mobley and a steady Allen will be a challenge, and maybe Cleveland will have to revisit the situation when the latter is due for a salary spike in 2026-27. But if anybody can find a way to make everybody happy, it's a basketball savant like Atkinson.

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