CLEVELAND (AP) – Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star centre Jarrett Allen could miss the start of the regular season with a bone bruise in his left ankle that will keep him out at least two weeks.
The Cavs said yesterday in a release that Allen was hurt this week during one of their first training camp practices. However, coach JB Bickerstaff indicated the centre has been dealing with an issue for a while. “It’s just one of those things over time,” Bickerstaff said following practice. “Not something that happened in practice and was triggered by something. It was something that had been building.”
The six-foot-11 Allen underwent an MRI on Friday and has started a treatment and rehab programme.
Allen, who averaged 14.3 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks last season, will be re-evaluated in two weeks. Based on the team’s timeline, Allen will miss the club’s three exhibition games and his status for the October 26 season opener at Brooklyn is unclear.
Bickerstaff said is “hope” is that Allen will be ready for the Nets. Cleveland’s first home game is October 28 against Oklahoma City.
“I can’t give you an honest answer on that because it’s a bone and everybody is different as far as how long those things take,” Bickerstaff said. “You can’t control everybody’s bone. But we wanted to do it now because we thought this was the best time.
“Give him as much time to rest and see how it heals and do all the things we can to help a speedy recovery and go from there.”
Allen has averaged 14.5 points and 10.1 rebounds in three seasons for Cleveland. The affable 25-year-old was acquired in 2021 from the Nets in a three-team trade.
Allen anchors Cleveland’s defence and his loss creates a major void inside. The Cavs addressed their need for frontline depth in the offseason by acquiring centre Damian Jones – a move that went under the radar – and re-signing free agent Tristan Thompson, who spent nine seasons with Cleveland and was on the club’s 2016 NBA title squad.
Bickerstaff noted the Cavs have versatile players who will allow him to use a variety of lineups.
