Cavs can trade Jarrett Allen just before next season’s trade deadline

Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should.

The Cleveland Cavaliers made Jarrett Allen’s contract extension official on Friday afternoon. The signing date is important. The Cavs are unable to trade Allen for six months after the extension. Since he was signed on Aug. 2, he’s eligible to be traded before the 2025 trade deadline.

Marc Stein pointed this out in a recent post that this was important for Cleveland.

Stein wrote:

The Cavaliers on Friday made it official and announced Jarrett Allen’s three-year, $91 million contract extension. It’s believed that Allen was essentially obligated to sign the deal before Aug. 6 as a condition of Cleveland extending him at the maximum amount allowed based on the 26-year-old’s current contract.

Allen thus becomes eligible to be traded on Feb. 2, 2025 … four days before next season’s deadline. Rest assured that the Cavaliers’ proverbial phone will continue to ring with Allen interest, as it has for years, given the ongoing belief leaguewide that Evan Mobley and Allen are a suspect long-term fit as a duo. The Cavaliers, of course, recently signed Mobley and star guard Donovan Mitchell to max extensions.

If trading Allen was a priority they could’ve done so at any point in the offseason before agreeing to a new deal. While the extension could make Allen slightly more desirable for teams, his current contract or fear of the size of his upcoming extension likely wasn’t holding up any possible trades.

Additionally, if you were going to move on from a member of the core it would be best to do so before the season and not with the playoffs just around the corner. There will likely be an adjustment period under new head coach Kenny Atkinson as it is. Throwing a drastic roster change into the mix late in the season would likely make things more complicated.

Still, it does make sense for the Cavs to prioritize getting the deal done when they did. It’s better to leave a door open than closing it unnecessarily. That said, just because the Cavs have the option of trading Allen before the deadline doesn’t mean they will actually do so or that it would be in the team’s best interest.