Ray Allen Being Recruited By Cavaliers, Heat
Ray Allen, an 18-year NBA veteran, is considering retirement. It’s not keeping him from listening to former teammates, though.
Allen is still considering a return to the Heat. Miami coach Eric Spoelstra is waiting to speak with Allen about going back to Miami. “We knew that he wanted to take some time and be patient to see where he is,” Spoelstra said. “We’ll see what happens. I don’t even know where we’ll be with our roster, but we owe a lot to Ray.”
Meanwhile, new Cavaliers acquisition Mike Miller, who played last year with the Heat alongside Allen, is trying to convince Allen to rejoin him and former Heat teammate LeBron James for another title run, reports the Sun Sentinel. The Houston Rockets are also reported to have interest in Allen.
Allen, who is 39, is currently in China until July 27, and is in no rush to decide his NBA future. Of all his options, the two that make sense is returning to the Heat, where he has a familiarity with the team and coaching staff, or to the Cavaliers, whose future suddenly has a huge upside. The Heat are rebuilding after James and Miller have gone to the Cavaliers, but still have Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade returning.
The Cavaliers, meanwhile, are still in the process of blending newer drafted players with veteran free agents. The Cavaliers already have Kylie Irving, Anthony Bennett, and Andrew Wiggins via the draft, which creates a strong core nucleus for this usually moribund team. Signing Miller and James gives them instant improvement. Also, Kevin Love’s name is still being tossed around. The latest word from Cleveland is that the Cavaliers would now consider adding Bennett and Wiggins in a trade to get Love from the Minnesota Timberwolves, reversing course from last week’s position.
According to ABC News, Miller was being courted by Dallas, Denver, and Houston, but took less money to sign a two-year contract with the Cavaliers. Miller wanted the opportunity to play with James again. Now, Miller sees Allen as another piece of a possible championship team.
“With LeBron James, you are going to win 55 to 60 games regardless. Now it’s about what you do in the playoffs. For us, even with the young talent that they have there, you’ve gotta bring guys that have been there before, even if they are not giving you heavy minutes,” Miller said of Allen.
Allen, whose birthday is on July 20, played 73 games for the Heat in the regular season and all 20 post-season games last season. He averaged 9.3 points per game on 41 percent shooting in the playoffs.
