Barring something crazy, when Jarrett Allen is introduced as the Wine & Gold’s starting center on October 20 in Memphis, he’ll be the team’s sixth different opening day staring center since 2014-15 – joining Andre Drummond, Tristan Thompson, Timofey Mozgov, Kevin Love and Allen’s surprise teammate from late last season, the Wild Thing – Anderson Varejao.
The Cavaliers hope the fifth-year man is the end of that trend.
This will be Allen’s first opening day start, but doesn’t it feel like he’s been a Cavalier all along? He fit in seamlessly when he arrived in January, he’s similar to the previously mentioned centers in that he’s a genuinely likeable guy, and this summer his signing seemed like the offseason’s biggest no-brainer.