Cavs, Jarrett Allen, Raptors, Brandon Ingram, Kings

Cavaliers

Jarrett Allen accomplished his personal goal last season — playing all 82 regular season games — then tacked on nine more in the playoffs.

But as the Cavs adjust their approach under coach Kenny Atkinson, Allen’s ironman streak may take a back seat to a broader in-season maintenance plan.

“I had a talk with him,” Atkinson said, via Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “He’s open to a [rest plan].”

Cleveland’s frontcourt depth makes that plan a lot more feasible. Behind Allen and Evan Mobley, the Cavs have added veteran bigs capable of soaking up minutes.

Thomas Bryant, for example, sits 14th on the roster and isn’t expected to see consistent playing time — but Atkinson and others view him as a legitimate rotation-caliber piece when called upon.

“It’s a great luxury,” Atkinson said. “It’s hard to play more than 10. But I think we’ll figure out how to best integrate those guys.”

Raptors

After three straight seasons at or below .500, Toronto enters the new year with something to prove.

That includes newcomer Brandon Ingram, who was an All-Star and Most Improved Player in 2019/20 but hasn’t received the same recognition since, thanks to injuries and a middling Pelicans run, writes Eric Koreen of The Athletic.

Veteran Garrett Temple says that mentality extends to Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett after their arrival from New York.

Still, Ingram cautioned against letting outside opinions dictate performance.

“I think when you go try to prove yourself to other people, it never works out,” he said, via Eric Koreen of The Athletic. “If you look too far and try to impress people, you’ll take failures more.”

In Toronto’s end-of-camp scrimmage, Ingram flashed the kind of versatile scoring the Raptors have lacked in recent years, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.

Kings

Sacramento may be setting the conditioning standard for the 2025–26 season.

Power forward Drew Eubanks said this has been “probably the hardest training camp” he’s ever experienced.

“Honestly, it seems like every single day has been a two-and-a-half-hour or three-hour practice where we’re getting up and down competing,” Eubanks said, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “And yeah, it’s been great so far. Love it.”

Coach Doug Christie has the Kings going full throttle as they look to build on back-to-back ninth-place finishes.