Brooklyn Nets rookie Jarrett Allen has had an up-and-down rookie season.After he spent most of the beginning of the year playing a minimal role off the bench, coach Kenny Atkinson has recently elevated Allen into the starting lineup. Overall, he is averaging 7.6 points and 5.1 rebounds in 18.4 minutes per game.But, in February, he has taken advantage of some expanded playing time. Starting each of Brooklyn’s nine games this month, he has averaged 12.3 points and 6.8 boards in 23.5 minutes. In that span, he has converted an impressive 61.2 percent of his shots.On Monday, he had one of the best performances of his young career in a 104-87 victory over the Chicago Bulls. Going 8-for-11 from the floor, Allen posted 18 points and added nine rebounds, three blocks and two steals in 23 minutes.But, two of those points came in spectacular fashion. At the beginning of the third quarter, the big man rolled off of a screen, found some open space, gathered a pass and dunked all over Bulls rookie Lauri Markkanen, who clearly didn’t get the memo to stay out of Allen’s way. Check it out:

All Markkanen could do was look up and stare in confusion after being sprawled out on his back.

Later in the quarter, Allen threw down another monster jam.

Although he has been eased into playing significant minutes, Allen is very confident about his skills and about his future as a member of the Nets. In fact, the 19-year-old big man made it clear that he wants to become the new face of the franchise.

“I wouldn’t call it replacing Brook. Brook is one of a kind, I hear,” Allen said earlier in the month. “It was good. He was the face of the franchise here and now I’m here trying to become the face, too. So just going back and forth, it’s a good challenge.”

Coach Atkinson has also been impressed with the teenager’s development.

“[Allen is] playing great basketball and he gets better with every game,” Atkinson said in early February. “I can’t wait until he spends a summer in the weight room and starts to get stronger. Some of those rebounds, it’s just a matter of strength. And he’s going to get that. You can already see him maturing. He’s already getting stronger and a summer with our performance team, we’re very excited about him. He’s doing it on both ends, too, right. … Obviously the pick-and-roll stuff and the pivots and dunks and all that’s great, it’s a big part of our offense. And then his defense is obviously rim protecting and his agility. He’s playing well.”

Point guard Spencer Dinwiddie also showered the youngster with praise, saying that he’s on the right path “at 19 knowing that he’ll have probably have at least 13 or 14 years left to continue to improve … so he’s got 13 years to get better. That’s crazy. At the rate he’s going, there is no ceiling.”

Judging by the high-flying dunks that he’s thrown down so far this year, he looks like he could become a productive modern-day starting center in the near future.