Cavs have heard the doubts. Jarrett Allen wants to end them

CLEVELAND — Jarrett Allen knows the Cavaliers have earned some respect. He also knows they haven’t earned all of it.

“I feel like [the city] believes in us but part of them has doubt,” Allen said Monday at media day. “Everyone wants to break the doubt. I want to break the doubt. The team wants to break the doubt. And we want to do it for the city.”

The Cavs reached the Eastern Conference finals last season after winning two Game 7s. That’s progress. Getting swept by the Knicks once they arrived was a reminder that progress and a championship are two different things.

Since then, the conversation in the East has shifted to the Knicks, the new-look Sixers and just about everybody who made a splash over the summer. Cleveland brought back Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Evan Mobley and Allen, then added Peyton Watson on the wing. Apparently, continuity isn’t as exciting as a trade alert.

Even LeBron James ran through the East’s big names at Sixers media day Monday before getting around to Cleveland. He mentioned the Heat with Giannis Antetokounmpo, the defending champion Knicks, his revamped Sixers and the Raptors with Kawhi Leonard first.

I don’t think James meant anything by it. But if you’re Allen and the Cavs, you’ve heard that sort of thing all summer.

“That’s just how it is with Cleveland,” Allen said. “At some point, people are going to understand about Cleveland and how much work, not only us but the whole city puts in, and respect it.”

Allen nearly used James himself as the example of what he wants the Cavs to accomplish. Then he remembered Mitchell’s preference for keeping the focus on this team.

“Don doesn’t like me saying LeBron,” Allen said. “We’re here to create our own identity.”

Mobley is doing his part. He said he spent the summer working on his offense, including a go-to move he lacked in the playoffs. Asked what that move is, he smiled.

“You’re gonna have to find out and see,” he said.

Good. The Cavs don’t need to win an argument in September. They’ve won plenty of regular season games and, last spring, a couple of hard playoff series. Their next step is beating a team like the Knicks when a trip to the Finals is on the line.

“There’s still a fire,” Mitchell said.