Report: Ray Allen will play next season, Cavaliers heavy front-runners to sign him
By Sam Richmond
Ray Allen has spent the past few months determining whether to retire or play another season in the NBA, and according to ESPN’s Chris Broussard the most prolific three-point shooter in NBA history has made up his mind.
As Broussard notes, the Cleveland Cavaliers are the heavy favorite to land Allen’s services. The 18-year NBA veteran is known to be great friends with LeBron James and at age 39 he surely wants to compete for a championship, which the Cavaliers will do.
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Also, increasing the Cavs odds of signing Allen is their potential trade for Kevin Love. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Marc Stein reported on Friday that the Cavs were using Love’s name in free agent talks with Allen (and Shawn Marion).
"Sources say the Cavs, meanwhile, are already touting Love’s arrival as a lure in hopes of closing free-agent deals with Shawn Marion and Ray Allen."
While Allen’s ability is declining as he ages, the two-time NBA champion can still shoot the ball just fine. He shot 37.5 percent from beyond the arc in 2013-14 and was above the 40 percent mark from downtown in each of the three prior seasons.
Allen would be a great addition off the bench for the Cavs, as it’s always best to surround James with as many shooters as possible and the two NBA legends already have a chemistry together.
Allen averaged 9.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists this past season with the Miami Heat.