Jarrett Allen not finishing in the Top 3 for DPOY is a joke

By Chad Porto | Apr 19, 2022

PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 04: Kevin Love #0 of the Cleveland Cavaliers talks to Jarrett Allen #31 against the Philadelphia 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center on March 4, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The 76ers defeated the Cavaliers 125-119. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ very own Jarrett Allen got robbed of a DPOY Top-3 finish.

Jarrett Allen had an exceptional year. He finished with 16.1 points and 10.8 rebounds, while also putting up 1.3 blocks per game. He helped lead the team to its first winning record without LeBron James since 1998 and achieved his first All-Star selection. He was the team’s second-most consistent scoring option and was the teams’ focal point defensively. He was easily one of the best defensive forces in all of the NBA. He also finished with a BPM of +3.9, an impressive number for a 23-year-old.

He had a DBPM of +1.2

Yet, the NBA just screwed him out of appearing in the top three for the Defensive Player of the Year Award. The DPOY saw the Jazz’s Rudy Gobert, Celtics’ Marcus Smart, and the Suns’ Mikal Bridges secure the top three spots.

To say the NBA screwed Allen out of the award is not only accurate, but it’s also typical.

Jarrett Allen deserved to be in the DPOY over Marcus Smart and Mikal Bridges

Not only should Jarrett Allen have been in the DPOY conversation over Smart and Bridges, but he arguably should have won it as well over Smart.

Let’s look at the advanced stats that measure defense. Allen’s defensive RAPTOR score of +4.1 is higher than Smart’s (+2.1), and Bridges (+1.0), and only trails Gobert’s (+7.2). His DBPM is higher than Bridges’ (+1.1) but is less than Smart’s (+1.7) and Gobert’s (+4.6).

In more raw stats, he had more steals than Gobert and more blocks than Bridges and Smart.

In honest, Smart had zero reasons to win the award. Gobert out-performed them in every way and it’s not even a debate. If the Jazz had better perimeter defenders, the Jazz would be unstoppable on defense. They don’t, and that’s their biggest issue.

Yet, Allen deserves the DPOY over Gobert for one reason, the Cavaliers proved just how valuable his defense is to this team. The Jazz were a respectable 7-9 without Gobert this year. The Cavs were 7-16 without Allen.

That’s a winning percentage of 43% to a winning percentage of 30%. The Cavs are only able to win less than a third of their games without Allen, while the Jazz is fairly close to winning half of their games without him.

All awards should measure the individual impact a player has on the team and the Cavs without Allen are far worse than the Jazz without Gobert. That makes Allen the real Defensive Player of the Year in my eyes.