I’ve had more than a few Celtics fans liken this move to a Red Sox player leaving for the Yankees (what’s up Johnny Damon!). If Ray Allen were to leave Boston for Miami, Boston fans couldn’t hate him because, you know, it’s impossible to hate Jesus Shuttlesworth, unless you’re Kobe. But they could try. The Miami-Boston rivalry is one of the best in the league, and now it appears it’ll only get better.
Alex Kennedy of HOOPSWORLD tweeted this late last night: “The general consensus around the NBA is that Ray Allen will sign with Miami. ‘Barring a change, he’ll join the Heat,’ said a league source.”
We covered the possible marriage in Smack earlier this week, so we’ll spare you the intimate details. Just know the Heat can offer Allen the $3.09 million taxpayer mid-level exception for next year, which won’t be the best deal he can get. And if they want to be frugal, Miami might not offer that to anyone to avoid paying more luxury tax money, and instead offer only minimum contracts this summer.
But if he really does want to win another championship, what better place than South Beach? I can’t think of a better foursome than Jesus, LeBron, D-Wade and Bosh. Allen would come off the pine, but because of ‘Bron’s flexibility to play one-through-four, there’d be no shortage of minutes.
Because the Heat won’t be able to afford big dollars, this’ll simply come down to Allen’s preference. He wants to win one more championship. He’s about to turn 37 years old, had his lowest scoring average (14.2 a game, despite shooting over 45 percent from deep) since his rookie season last year, and is coming off ankle surgery. Would he leave Boston for Miami? Would he choose Miami over a host of other suitors with more money? It’s starting to sound like it.
What do you think?
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