Steve Nash’s comments prove Jarrett Allen has upper hand over DeAndre Jordan

Nets head coach Steve Nash had strong praise for center Jarrett Allen.

Heading into the new NBA season, there were burning questions surrounding the Brooklyn Nets regarding how first-year head coach Steve Nash would split up minutes with his incredibly deep roster.

While the Nets have blown out their first two opponents, the early signs indicate that Nash is more than happy to empty his bench in games. After all, a whopping 15 players saw minutes in the win over Boston and that contest really didn’t get out of hand until the fourth quarter.

Perhaps the most noteworthy takeaway from the initial rotations has been how Jarrett Allen has seemingly overtaken DeAndre Jordan as the preferred option at center. Not only do their minutes prove that, but Nash had some high praise for Allen while talking to reporters about his contract situation.

To put it simply, Nash is predicting a sizable deal for the 2017 first-round pick when his current one expires.

"“I haven’t talked to him about that,” Nash said after Friday’s win over the Celtics. “We’re focused on the season. He has a bright future. He’s going to have a big contract whenever the time is.“The guy was unbelievable. He was good in the first half, he was special in the second half. That’s what it’s going to take to win, especially as we’re forming here, is special efforts and man, he was good. … Defensively, protecting the rim, loose balls, rebounding at both ends, he was outstanding. We’re proud of him and he’s continuing and improving at this stage of his career.”"

If these comments don’t prove that Allen is ahead of Jordan in the center pecking order, then nothing does. Over the first two games, the budding fourth-year pro is averaging 8.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks (!) while shooting 66.7% from the floor across 20.5 minutes. He hasn’t started either fixture, but we all know a handful of teams save their best players on the bench to wreak havoc on opposing second units.

Jordan, meanwhile, is logging 4.0 points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.5 blocks on 80% shooting in 18 minutes. His field goal percentage might look amazing on paper, but it’s skewed due to the fact that he’s only attempted five shots thus far. That average will presumably regress to the mean in short order if he gets more shots up.

Allen understandably bet on himself after he failed to agree to a contract extension with the Nets prior to the start of the 2020-21 campaign, meaning that he will enter next offseason as a restricted free agent.

If he keeps playing this like, we would count on him potentially breaking the starting rotation in due time and having a multitude of suitors lined up with lucrative offers once the offseason rolls around.

We just felt the need to make this clear given all of the questions surrounding Jordan and Allen heading into this year. We know Jordan is close with Durant and Irving, but superior play will prevail, as will a big endorsement from the head coach.

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