2019-20 Player Spotlight: JARRETT ALLEN

Jarrett Allen poised to have a dominant third year in the league.

Jarrett Allen, one of the honorable hosts of the NBA’s annual block party last season, is going into his third year in the league and is likely to make it a good one.

Allen tossing up ball

Allen made quite a name for himself in his sophomore year all season, and it wasn’t for his 1970s afro. In addition to nearly averaging a double-double with 10.9 PPG and 8.4 RPG, Allen finished 11 in the league with 120 total blocks, and 12 in the league averaging 1.5 BPG.

What’s even more impressive about his blocking ability wasn’t just his consistency when doing it. It was who he was blocking, the best of the best. Obviously 120 blocks is a lot, but the most notable of those victims are LeBron James, James Harden, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis and Blake Griffin. All learned the hard way when going against the second year phenom.

Reactions were different across the board, but the King himself wasn’t too bothered by it.

“He’s in his twenties, I’m in my thirties. It takes me a little longer to get warmed up, but that’s fine,” said James. “It happens. It’s probably all over social media, so that’s cool.”

His block on the King was arguably the most notable because in James’ 16 year career (at that point) he had attempted 1,800 dunks, and only been denied eight times prior to this.

Alright enough about blocking.

Despite having such a good year, the 22 overall pick will most likely come off of the bench as a result of the newest big man to sign with Brooklyn, DeAndre Jordan.

However, don’t be surprised if the Nets have their own version of the “twin towers” lineup of both Allen and Jordan on the court at the same time. This could be intimidating for anybody who considers themselves a “slasher” since Jordan himself averaged 11 PPG, 13.1 RPG and 1.1 BPG last season.

Not to mention, another big man that will be looking for minutes this year is rookie Nicolas Claxton, who the Nets chose in the second round of this year’s NBA draft out of the University of Georgia.

This may seem like a lot for Head Coach Kenny Atkinson to sort out this year, but it’s certainly a good problem to have with his revamped roster that will likely be a top 15 team on both sides of the ball.