2. Jarrett Allen
Allen emerged as one-half of Cleveland’s dynamic interior duo alongside Evan Mobley thanks to his shot-blocking and rim-running. While Allen will be a big part of Cleveland’s plan to turn things around in the near future, he has some hills to climb before he can be considered a Siakam-level player.
Allen is a better rebounder and shot-blocker than Siakam, but Pascal has the edge here thanks to his much more expansive offensive game. Being a dunk machine like Allen is excellent, but playing center and point guard in the same quarter while still shooting efficiently puts Siakam on another level.
Toronto Raptors: Pascal Siakam is a tier above Jarrett Allen
Allen is rarely asked to be the primary offensive generator due to Darius Garland. With Fred VanVleet starting to show some less than ideal durability, Siakam was tasked with carrying the offense regularly. Naturally, a player of Siakam’s quality had no issue shouldering the load.
Allen has a legitimate cause for complaint with The Athletic decision-makers, as he was in Tier 4A alongside Al Horford and Dorian Finney-Smith. Even though he should be several tiers higher, the fact that he was selected for the All-Star game over Siakam is looking worse by the month.