disruptive rim protectors, Allen spends
every game actualizing his potential
within the confines of his limited role.
But as the center position emerges
from an identity crisis, his basketball-
related ambition exceeds the duties of
a rim-rolling gatekeeper. Instead, it
mostly revolves around becoming what
Al Horford is now: a tide-riser whose
mere presence on both ends elevates
those around him. “[Horford] is able to
spot up at the three. He’s good at
passing. He’s good at taking it to the rim.
So just a little bit of all of the stuff he
does,” Allen says.
This is life as an overlooked cog
who’s undeniably invaluable. It feels
like a fitting destiny, though one he isn’t
particularly close to realizing. Allen’s
usage was down from his rookie year—
there are very few opportunities within
Brooklyn’s offense for him to create
his own shot, and he isn’t strong or
assertive enough to impact this season’s
games the same way he may some day.
That’s fine. This was only Year 2, and
even the most optimistic expectations
have already been surpassed. “He’s
embraced contact more than I thought
he would when I saw him in the draft,”
Chicago Bulls head coach Jim Boylen
says. “You’ve gotta give him credit for it.
You’ve gotta give him a lot of credit.”
Heading into the All-Star break,
Giannis was the only player in the
Eastern Conference with more dunks.
(“Trust me,” Memphis Grizzlies rookie
Jaren Jackson Jr says. “We account for
him.”) There’s confidence in Allen’s
outside shot, too, but the Nets coaching
staff has understandably resisted giving
him a permanent green light on
non-corner threes. If he’s wide open, the
instruction is to engineer a dribble
hand-off with one of Brooklyn’s many
capable ball-handlers. But it won’t
always be that way.
“I still insist that when I look at his
shot and see him practice that he can
stretch the floor eventually,” Nets head
coach Kenny Atkinson says. Several of
Allen’s teammates feel like a $100
million contract is on the horizon, and
during a recent appearance on ESPN’s
The Jump, Nets guard Spencer
Dinwiddie called Allen “a future top-
five center.”
“I look at [Clint] Capela, and you can’t
tell me Jarrett can’t be just as good
if not better than Capela. I think his shot
blocking is already better than Capela
right now,” Dudley says. “I think he’s more
mobile and active than Rudy Gobert. I
think the high is him being an All-Star
player, averaging around 19-20 points, 10
rebounds, and about 3-4 blocks.”
All those marks are far from guaran-
teed, but Allen’s selfless nature makes
reaching them extremely plausible. Off
the court, his free time better reflects
a soft-spoken college junior than a
building block for one of the NBA’s most
intriguing teams. He sinks into Haruki
Murakami novels (“From what I think
I know about Japan, they have their
traditional side, and then they have
their more modern side,” he says. “I just
love how they stick to traditions but
they’re still evolving”), glues himself to
Nintendo Switch, follows the Overwatch
League, peruses Star Wars subreddits,
and, whenever possible, constructs
1700-piece Lego sets.
(A Star Wars fan since he was little,
watching VHS tapes over and over, Allen
was a tad turned off by The Last Jedi:
“They tried to put too much comedy in
it for me,” he says. “I don’t know how
to describe it. Just, like, Luke throwing
his lightsaber behind his head was too
much.”)
Video games have been a huge part
of his life for as long as he can remem-
ber. In a league that’s increasingly
populated by aspiring media tycoons
who enjoy leveraging their humongous
platforms to self-promote, Allen prefers
to explore someone else’s creation.
THE FUTURE ISSUE
“HE’S A
FUTURE
TOP 5
CENTER.”
—SPENCER DINWIDDIE
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