Jarrett Allen

Jarrett Allen isn't just a towering presence on the basketball court; he's a remarkably efficient NBA center known for his rebounding, shot-blocking, and impressive scoring efficiency. From his early days as a highly-touted recruit to becoming an NBA All-Star, Allen has consistently elevated his game, proving himself an anchor for any team. Dive into the journey of "The Fro" and discover what makes him one of the league's most impactful big men. Jarrett Allen's journey from a five-star college recruit to an NBA All-Star highlights a consistent ascent driven by exceptional defensive and rebounding prowess. His trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers transformed both his career and the team's fortunes, establishing him as a foundational piece of their revitalized defense. Allen's remarkable efficiency, particularly his field goal percentage and offensive rating, sets him apart as one of the most effective centers in modern NBA history.

Source: Wikipedia

AI Summary

Jarrett Allen's journey from a five-star college recruit to an NBA All-Star highlights a consistent ascent driven by exceptional defensive and rebounding prowess.
His trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers transformed both his career and the team's fortunes, establishing him as a foundational piece of their revitalized defense.
Allen's remarkable efficiency, particularly his field goal percentage and offensive rating, sets him apart as one of the most effective centers in modern NBA history.

The Rise of Jarrett Allen

Jarrett Allen, born April 21, 1998, has carved out a significant career in the NBA. This American professional basketball player, known for his distinctive afro and formidable presence, currently plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers. His journey began after a standout college career at the University of Texas.

Early Life and High School Hoops

Born in San Diego, Allen later moved to Texas, attending Walsh Middle School before his freshman year at Round Rock High School. He then transferred to St. Stephen's Episcopal School in Austin, where he truly excelled. During his three years there, he led his team to two SPC championships, showcasing his budding talent.

By the time he was a senior, Allen was considered a top prospect, rated a five-star recruit and ranked as the no. 15 overall player in the Class of 2016. His impressive high school performance culminated in an invitation to the prestigious 2016 McDonald's All-American Boys Game, a significant honor for any young basketball player.

College Star at Texas

Allen chose to commit to the University of Texas at Austin to play college basketball for the Longhorns. As a freshman, he quickly became a key player, averaging 13.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. One of his most memorable performances was a dominant 22-point, 19-rebound effort against perennial powerhouse Kansas.

Despite Allen's strong individual season, the Texas Longhorns had a challenging year, finishing with a disappointing 11–22 record. Following this sole collegiate season, Allen declared for the 2017 NBA draft, ultimately deciding to forgo his remaining three years of eligibility to pursue his professional dream.

Drafted by the Brooklyn Nets

In the 2017 NBA draft, Jarrett Allen was selected 22nd overall by the Brooklyn Nets. He officially signed his rookie contract on July 20, embarking on his professional journey. At just 19 years and 182 days old, Allen made his NBA debut on October 20, becoming the second-youngest player ever to take the court for the Nets.

His rookie season quickly saw him make an impact. Allen joined the starting lineup for the first time on January 25, 2018, recording a career-high 16 points and 12 rebounds in a win against the Philadelphia 76ers. Throughout that season, he continued to impress, showing flashes of his shot-blocking and rebounding potential, even recording five blocks in a victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Allen's growth continued into his sophomore season. On November 17, 2018, he posted a career-high 24 points against the Los Angeles Clippers, adding 11 rebounds. A few months later, he delivered a truly dominant performance against the Houston Rockets, grabbing a career-high 24 rebounds alongside 20 points in a thrilling overtime victory.

The Blockbuster Trade to Cleveland

On January 14, 2021, Jarrett Allen found himself at the center of one of the NBA's most impactful trades. He was moved to the Cleveland Cavaliers as part of a multi-player, four-team deal that famously sent superstar James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets. This trade would dramatically alter the trajectory of both Allen's career and the Cavaliers franchise.

Becoming a Cavalier Anchor

Allen quickly became indispensable to the Cavaliers. In his first full season with the team (2021–22), he started all 56 games he played, averaging career bests in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals. His remarkable field goal percentage of .677 was a testament to his efficient scoring around the rim.

Alongside fellow big man Evan Mobley, Allen spearheaded a dramatic turnaround for Cleveland. The team went from a poor winning percentage and one of the league's worst defenses to a top-tier defensive unit. His consistent presence on both ends of the court earned him his first NBA All-Star Game selection in February 2022, a significant milestone in his career.

Allen continued to set new benchmarks with the Cavaliers. On December 28, 2023, he recorded an impressive 24 points and 23 rebounds against the Dallas Mavericks. Just a month later, on January 22, 2024, he set a new franchise record for consecutive double-doubles, surpassing previous records held by Andre Drummond and Elmore Smith, cementing his place in Cavaliers history.

The Cavaliers recognized Allen's immense value, extending him a qualifying offer in July 2021, making him a restricted free agent. This led to him signing a substantial five-year, $100 million contract with Cleveland on August 6, locking in their defensive cornerstone. His commitment to the team was further solidified with a three-year, $91 million max contract extension agreed upon in July 2024.

Historic Efficiency

Beyond his individual accolades and team impact, Jarrett Allen holds a remarkable place in NBA history: he has the highest offensive rating (130.1) of any player in the league, among those with a minimum of 15,000 minutes played. This statistic underscores his incredible efficiency and impact whenever he's on the floor.

Personal Life

Basketball runs in the Allen family. Jarrett's father, Leonard Allen, was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in the 1985 NBA draft and played collegiately at San Diego State. His older brother, Leonard Jr., also pursued collegiate basketball. This strong family foundation in the sport likely contributed to Jarrett's own success.

Career Statistics

To fully appreciate Jarrett Allen's impact, let's look at his career statistics. The following tables detail his performance across his college, regular season, and playoff appearances, using standard NBA statistical abbreviations. 'GP' refers to games played, 'GS' to games started, and 'MPG' to minutes per game.

Regular Season

These statistics reflect Jarrett Allen's performance throughout his NBA regular season career. The asterisk next to 2024-25 in 'GP' and 'GS' indicates he led the league in games played and games started that season, and the asterisk next to 'FG%' denotes he led the league in field goal percentage that year.

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2017–18	Brooklyn	72	31	20.0	.589	.333	.776	5.4	.7	.4	1.2	8.2
2018–19	Brooklyn	80	80	26.2	.590	.133	.709	8.4	1.4	.5	1.5	10.9
2019–20	Brooklyn	70	64	26.5	.649	.000	.633	9.6	1.6	.6	1.3	11.1
2020–21	Brooklyn	12	5	26.6	.677	—	.754	10.4	1.7	.6	1.6	11.2
Cleveland	51	40	30.3	.609	.316	.690	9.9	1.7	.5	1.4	13.2
2021–22	Cleveland	56	56	32.3	.677	.100	.708	10.8	1.6	.8	1.3	16.1
2022–23	Cleveland	68	68	32.6	.644	.100	.733	9.8	1.7	.8	1.2	14.3
2023–24	Cleveland	77	77	31.7	.634	.000	.742	10.5	2.7	.7	1.1	16.5
2024–25	Cleveland	82*	82*	28.0	.706*	.000	.718	9.7	1.9	.9	.9	13.5
Career	568	503	28.2	.641	.164	.712	9.2	1.7	.7	1.2	12.8
All-Star	1	0	24.0	.833	.000	—	9.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	10.0

Playoffs

Jarrett Allen has proven himself a consistent performer in the high-stakes environment of the NBA playoffs, contributing significantly to his teams' postseason efforts.

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2019	Brooklyn	5	5	22.0	.594	—	.850	6.8	2.2	.6	.6	11.0
2020	Brooklyn	4	4	33.1	.583	—	.813	14.8	2.3	.5	1.8	10.3
2023	Cleveland	5	5	38.1	.611	—	.500	7.4	2.4	.8	1.0	9.4
2024	Cleveland	4	4	31.7	.676	—	.692	13.8	1.3	1.3	1.0	17.0
2025	Cleveland	9	9	29.0	.721	—	.943	8.4	1.3	1.4	.9	13.4
Career	27	27	30.4	.653	—	.816	9.7	1.8	1.0	1.0	12.3

College

Here are the statistics from Jarrett Allen's single season playing for the Texas Longhorns.

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2016–17	Texas	33	33	32.2	.566	.000	.564	8.4	.8	.6	1.5	13.4

Article

Jarrett Allen

Jarrett Allen (born April 21, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Texas Longhorns and was selected 22nd overall by the Brooklyn Nets in the 2017 NBA draft. In January 2021, he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers as part of the four-team blockbuster James Harden trade. In February 2022, Allen was named to his first NBA All-Star Game.

Allen has the highest offensive rating (130.1) of any player in NBA history (minimum 15,000 minutes played).

Early life

Jarrett Allen

Born in San Diego, Allen attended Walsh Middle School in Round Rock Texas, which feeds into Round Rock High School in Round Rock, Texas for his freshman year of high school. He then transferred to St. Stephen's Episcopal School in Austin, Texas for his final three years and went on to win two SPC championships. He played in the 2016 McDonald's All-American Boys Game. He committed to the University of Texas at Austin to play college basketball.

Allen was rated as a five-star recruit and ranked no. 15 overall player in the Class of 2016.

College career

Jarrett Allen

As a freshman at the University of Texas, Allen averaged 13.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. However, Texas finished a disappointing 11–22. His best game was a 22-point, 19-rebound performance in a 12-point loss to Kansas. After the season, he entered the 2017 NBA draft but did not initially hire an agent before deciding to forgo his remaining three years of collegiate eligibility.

Professional career

Brooklyn Nets (2017–2021)

Allen was selected with the 22nd overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft by the Brooklyn Nets, and signed his rookie scale deal with the Nets on July 20. He was 19 years 182 days when he made his NBA debut on October 20, becoming the second-youngest player ever to set foot on court for the Nets, just behind Derrick Favors. He finished the game with nine points on 3-for-3 shooting, two rebounds, and one block. On January 25, 2018, Allen joined the starting lineup for the first time and recorded a career-high 16 points and 12 rebounds in a 116–108 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. On February 2, in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Allen scored a career-high 20 points, as well as five rebounds and one block. On February 7, he grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds and scored 13 points in a 115–106 loss to the Detroit Pistons. On March 21, 2018, Allen recorded four blocks, which matched his career-high, as well as six rebounds, and nine points in a 111–105 loss to the Charlotte Hornets. On April 5, he got a career-high five blocks in a 119–111 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Allen in 2018

On November 17, 2018, Allen recorded a career-high 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in a 127–119 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. On November 20, he grabbed a season-high 14 rebounds and scored 13 points as the Nets defeated the Miami Heat. On January 16, 2019, Allen recorded 20 points and a career-high 24 rebounds in the Nets' 145–142 overtime victory over the Houston Rockets.

Cleveland Cavaliers (2021–present)

On January 14, 2021, Allen was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a multi-player, four-team deal with the Rockets that sent James Harden to the Nets.

Allen at the 2022 NBA All-Star Game in Cleveland

On July 23, 2021, Cleveland extended a qualifying offer to Allen, making him a restricted free agent. Allen signed a five-year, $100 million contract with Cleveland on August 6. On October 20, 2021, in a 132–121 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, Allen became the first player since the shot clock was introduced in the 1954–55 NBA season to make 10 or more field goals without a miss in a season opener. Allen was named a replacement for Harden, for whom he was traded a year prior, on Team LeBron in the 2022 NBA All-Star Game.

Starting all the 56 games he played, Allen finished the 2021–22 season averaging a number of career best with 16.1 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.3 blocks, and .8 steals per game, while shooting .677, .100, and .708 from the field, the three-point line, and on free throws, respectively, on 32.3 minutes per game. Alongside rookie and fellow Cavalier Evan Mobley, Allen led Cleveland from a .306 winning percentage and the league's sixth-worst defense to a .537 winning percentage and the league's fifth best defense for efficiency; it was .578 before Allen suffered a fractured finger injury in early March.

Allen in 2023

On December 28, 2023, he scored 24 points, grabbed 23 rebounds, recorded 6 assists and 2 steals in a 113–110 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. The next day, Allen posted 30 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and two blocks on 15-of-17 shooting from the field in a 119–111 loss against the Milwaukee Bucks. On January 22, 2024, he set the franchise record for consecutive double-doubles during a win against the Orlando Magic by passing the 11-game streak held by both Andre Drummond and Elmore Smith. In Game 2 of the Cavaliers' first round playoffs series against the Orlando Magic, Allen recorded a playoff career-high 20 rebounds, along with 16 points, three assists, two steals and three blocks in a 96–86 win.

On July 31, 2024, Allen and the Cavaliers agreed to a three–year, $91 million max contract extension. He started all 82 games for Cleveland during the 2024–25 NBA season, posting averages of 13.5 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 1.9 assists. In October 2025, Allen suffered a left ring finger injury during the game against the Boston Celtics. After getting assessed, it was confirmed it was a non-displaced fracture of his distal phalanx On February 2, 2026, Allen recorded a career-high 40 points, 17 rebounds, five assists, two steals, and four blocks in a 130–111 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Career statistics

Jarrett Allen

<table><thead><tr><th> GP</th><th>Games played</th><th> GS </th><th>Games started</th><th> MPG </th><th>Minutes per game</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td> FG% </td><td>Field goal percentage</td><td> 3P% </td><td>3-point field goal percentage</td><td> FT% </td><td>Free throw percentage</td></tr><tr><td> RPG </td><td>Rebounds per game</td><td> APG </td><td>Assists per game</td><td> SPG </td><td>Steals per game</td></tr><tr><td> BPG </td><td>Blocks per game</td><td> PPG </td><td>Points per game</td><td> Bold </td><td>Career high</td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>Led the league</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

Regular season

<table><thead><tr><th>Year</th><th>Team</th><th>GP</th><th>GS</th><th>MPG</th><th>FG%</th><th>3P%</th><th>FT%</th><th>RPG</th><th>APG</th><th>SPG</th><th>BPG</th><th>PPG</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>2017–18</td><td>Brooklyn</td><td>72</td><td>31</td><td>20.0</td><td>.589</td><td>.333</td><td>.776</td><td>5.4</td><td>.7</td><td>.4</td><td>1.2</td><td>8.2</td></tr><tr><td>2018–19</td><td>Brooklyn</td><td>80</td><td>80</td><td>26.2</td><td>.590</td><td>.133</td><td>.709</td><td>8.4</td><td>1.4</td><td>.5</td><td>1.5</td><td>10.9</td></tr><tr><td>2019–20</td><td>Brooklyn</td><td>70</td><td>64</td><td>26.5</td><td>.649</td><td>.000</td><td>.633</td><td>9.6</td><td>1.6</td><td>.6</td><td>1.3</td><td>11.1</td></tr><tr><td>2020–21</td><td>Brooklyn</td><td>12</td><td>5</td><td>26.6</td><td>.677</td><td>—</td><td>.754</td><td>10.4</td><td>1.7</td><td>.6</td><td>1.6</td><td>11.2</td></tr><tr><td>Cleveland</td><td>51</td><td>40</td><td>30.3</td><td>.609</td><td>.316</td><td>.690</td><td>9.9</td><td>1.7</td><td>.5</td><td>1.4</td><td>13.2</td></tr><tr><td>2021–22</td><td>Cleveland</td><td>56</td><td>56</td><td>32.3</td><td>.677</td><td>.100</td><td>.708</td><td>10.8</td><td>1.6</td><td>.8</td><td>1.3</td><td>16.1</td></tr><tr><td>2022–23</td><td>Cleveland</td><td>68</td><td>68</td><td>32.6</td><td>.644</td><td>.100</td><td>.733</td><td>9.8</td><td>1.7</td><td>.8</td><td>1.2</td><td>14.3</td></tr><tr><td>2023–24</td><td>Cleveland</td><td>77</td><td>77</td><td>31.7</td><td>.634</td><td>.000</td><td>.742</td><td>10.5</td><td>2.7</td><td>.7</td><td>1.1</td><td>16.5</td></tr><tr><td>2024–25</td><td>Cleveland</td><td>82</td><td>82</td><td>28.0</td><td>.706</td><td>.000</td><td>.718</td><td>9.7</td><td>1.9</td><td>.9</td><td>.9</td><td>13.5</td></tr><tr><td>Career</td><td>568</td><td>503</td><td>28.2</td><td>.641</td><td>.164</td><td>.712</td><td>9.2</td><td>1.7</td><td>.7</td><td>1.2</td><td>12.8</td></tr><tr><td>All-Star</td><td>1</td><td>0</td><td>24.0</td><td>.833</td><td>.000</td><td>—</td><td>9.0</td><td>1.0</td><td>1.0</td><td>2.0</td><td>10.0</td></tr></tbody></table>

Playoffs

College

Personal life

Jarrett Allen

Allen's father Leonard was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in the 1985 NBA draft and played at San Diego State and in Spain. His older brother Leonard Jr. committed to playing collegiate basketball for Baylor University, but took a leave of absence in 2017.

In July 2025, Allen married his longtime partner, Jordyn January in Austin, TX. The two got engaged in 2023.