Things haven’t exactly turned out the way the Miami Heat imagined they would this season. Despite a relatively healthy roster that comprises arguably one of the league’s best starting fives (on paper), the Heat have been underwhelming in several key areas. With the game trending toward uptempo play and an emphasis on three-point shooting, Miami is hovering near the bottom of the league in both of those categories. They boast one of the speediest point guards in the NBA in Goran Dragic, but they’ve yet to figure out how to unleash him or anyone else in the open court as they rank 29th in pace.
As a team, they shoot a tepid 32.9 percent from downtown, good for 27th in the NBA this season, just a hair worse than the Philadelphia 76ers. Given that dubious distinction, it should come as no surprise that the organization would be exploring any and all options that might help them improve in this area, even when those options aren’t really options. According to Ethan J. Skolnick of The Miami Herald, Heat brass would welcome retired sharpshooter Ray Allen back into the fold if he ever decides he wants to play again:
According to several sources, the Heat has not only had a standing offer to Allen to return to the team ever since the 2014 offseason, but it made additional overtures as recently as this summer.
Allen, however, has never bit.
This shouldn’t be all that surprising, if you were aware of his frustration during his final season in Miami, the one that ended with a five-game Finals loss to the Spurs; he made that frustration, about everything from scheduling to rotations, well enough known to Heat teammates, coaches and officials, that it has been frequently relayed to reporters (like this one) since.
The Heat are currently on a four-game losing streak, have lost eight out of their last ten, and sit precariously in eighth place in the Eastern Conference Standings. Certainly, it’d be nice to have a dead-eye marksman like Allen spotting up around the perimeter to knock down wide-open shots, even at 40 years of age, but the Heat have a host of problems that extend beyond the three-point line.
(Via The Miami Herald)
