Brooklyn Nets’ Jarrett Allen is thriving with increased playing time

Rookie center Jarrett Allen has moved into a starter’s role with the Brooklyn Nets. Over the course of the season, and in particular the recent stretch, Allen’s game has improved immensely. He looks to be a core piece for the Nets moving forward.

The Brooklyn Nets drafted Jarrett Allen 22nd overall in this years draft, with the intention of developing him as a rim protector. The raw physical tools were there: 6-foot-11, 235 pounds, seven-foot-five wingspan. He was also one of the youngest players drafted at just 19 years old.

Early in the season, Tyler Zeller, providing a veteran presence, was seeing starting minutes. Allen came off the bench, and it quickly became clear that he was a spark plug. His length allowed him to defend the paint, as well as throw down some ferocious dunks which ignited the bench and the team. At that point however, his offensive game was limited to dunks and close to the basket attempts.

Allen’s overall game began to improve with each contest. After Zeller was traded to the Bucks, the rookie was made a starter by Kenny Atkinson. The results have been very promising.

In seven games as a starter, Allen is averaging 14.1 points, and 7.6 rebounds on 66 percent shooting per game. Compare that to 6.4 points and 4.6 rebounds off the bench. He’s also getting to the line nearly three times per game and shooting over 89 percent. That free throw percentage for someone of his age and size is very impressive.

Offensively, he has begun to develop his mid-range and hook shots. Those tools complement his ability to finish strong off the pick-and-roll.

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The defense, and the rebounds could use work, and will come with time and strength. Atkinson says a full off season of training will do wonders for Allen:

"“I can’t wait until he spends a summer in the weight room and starts to get stronger. Some of those rebounds, it’s just a matter of strength. And he’s going to get that.“You can already see him maturing. He’s already getting stronger and a summer with our performance team, we’re very excited about him. He’s doing it on both ends, too, right. … Obviously the pick-and-roll stuff and the pivots and dunks and all that’s great, it’s a big part of our offense. And then his defense is obviously rim protecting and his agility. He’s playing well."

After the draft, based on his college film, I compared Allen’s ceiling to Pacers’ Myles Turner. That may have seemed like a stretch at the time. But looking at Turner’s averages this year: 13.6 points and 6.5 rebounds, that doesn’t seem as far off.

The biggest difference is Turner’s 2.1 blocks compared to Allen’s 0.8, and the fact the Turner has developed a three point shot.

With Allen’s shooting form, as evidenced by his free throw shooting, there’s no reason to think his outside game couldn’t develop as well.

There was a time when scouts were concerned about Allen’s love for the game of basketball, and his drive to get better. Those have disappeared. He recently said that he’s looking to become the face of the franchise. That was after the game against the Los Angeles Lakers, where he dropped a career high 20 points:

With the Brooklyn Nets focusing on development the rest of this season, Jarrett Allen will continue to see starting minutes. He looks to be on the right path to making his goals a reality.