Ray Allen interested in Heat and Knicks


Pretty much as I expected, though I'm not sure I agree that KG is retiring. It's like he finally has become a low post center after all these years fighting it and has had a rebirth as a superstar. Why would he walk away at the age of 36? We're not talking Rasheed Wallace who was on his last legs? KG was still dominating. He will get HUGE offers and it will be up to Danny to decide whether to invest in multiple years for KG at the risk of punting our cap space.

I know people think I'm being harsh on Ray Allen, but I do believe he's entering the "shell of his former self" stage of his career. He used to be a running, dunking athlete, who you could give the ball to and he could create on his own. Now he is essentially just a shooter, who you need to run multiple picks for to get him open. Also, because he's no threat to drive or post up, other teams have the luxury of putting their point guards on him defensively, as both the Lakers and Heat have done. The Celtics really took off when they swapped Ray in the starting line-up for Avery Bradley and I feel that moving forward they need to continue to start a younger, more athletic guard. If Bradley doesn't get hurt we're in the Finals right now. In fact if the Ray Allen for OJ Mayo and a pick trade went down I believe we're also in the Finals.


I don't see Ray accepting a bench role for small money from Boston when at least one other team will offer him more money and a starting role. Not to mention, Danny's shopped him the past few trading deadlines, and he lost his starting gig this season, so his sense of loyalty to Boston has waned some (as has been reported). I think Ray will get at a minimum the full MLE from a prospective contender. Regarding KG, it will come down to how much money he's willing to leave on the table. I could see a team like the Nets offering him something ridiculous like 4 years at $50 million.  Not sure how the Celtics can match that. Hopefully, if KG decides to return, Danny can negotiate a 2 year deal before other suitors get to enter the picture in July.