On July 31st, 2024, the Cleveland Cavaliers announced a contract extension for former All-Star center Jarrett Allen. The extension, worth $91 million over three years, initially seemed to signal that the Cavaliers were committed to keeping the “core four” of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen together, as all four players are now signed to max extensions with the franchise. This was surprising, as rumors of trades for the Cavaliers surfaced as soon as they lost to the eventual NBA champion Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals. However, the trade rumors have returned, with reports of Jarrett Allen being obligated to sign the $91 million extension before August 6th, so the Cavaliers could shop the big man.

The August 6th deadline is important because, following NBA trade rules, Allen would be eligible to be traded before the 2024-25 NBA season trade deadline. This leads fans and media members alike to believe that Jarrett Allen may not truly be a long-term fit with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the franchise’s eyes. There have long been questions about Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley’s fit together as the Cavaliers’ big man dynamic duo, admittedly even from me. The thought of Allen and Mobley’s play styles clashing is something I have brought up before, and it seems the Cavaliers are starting to feel the same way. This move puts the Cavaliers in a position to move off of Allen if their playstyles continue to not gel in a way that constitutes success.

So if the Cavaliers are thinking about the long-term fit and thinking about trading Jarrett Allen, who is the way-too-early prediction? In my eyes, it has always been Brandon Ingram. Ingram has been linked to the Cavaliers before in Darius Garland mock trades, as well as being the fit at the small forward position this team has long been looking for. Again, this is a way-too-early prediction—the 2024-25 season has not even started, and we do not know which players will be asking for trades mid-season, nor which teams will be selling at the trade deadline.

The Cavaliers have put themselves in an interesting position with this move. I believe I speak for many when I say that following the Donovan Mitchell extension, I expected to see this team make more major moves. There was no way a new head coach was all that Donovan needed to hear in order to be confident in this team long-term after back-to-back early playoff series losses, right? Maybe Donovan and the franchise’s higher-ups both agreed to run it back one more time with the “core four” completely healthy before they hit the eject button. After all, advanced metrics do show dominance when all four players are on the court and healthy (the key word being healthy). I, for one, am interested to see what this Cleveland Cavaliers franchise does moving forward, as the quietness in terms of player trades, signings, etc., has been surprising, to say the least.