We’re past the halfway mark of the NBA season and Ray Allen still doesn’t have a team. Almost every potential title and playoff contender is a potential landing spot for the future hall of fame shooter, but the Cleveland Cavaliers and now even the Atlanta Hawks are a bit above the rest when it comes to likelihood of signing him.
Allen didn’t want to go through another training camp. Now it seems he doesn’t want to play “meaningless” regular season games. He wants to join a team as close to the playoffs as possible, and it doesn’t seem to discourage anyone that he hasn’t played basketball since the 2014 NBA finals, or at least not on a professional level.
All through the recruiting process, the Cavaliers have seemed like the number one option for Allen on his shortlist. It was LeBron James that helped convince him to join the Miami Heat after he left the Boston Celtics, and it was James who has been talking and meeting with Allen over the course of this season to try and gauge the water and see when Allen decides to comes back, and make sure he makes the “right” decision.
But there are other, possibly more worthy title contenders out there that could prove to be a bit more interesting for Allen. The San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors have been around as an option for quite some time. So have the Chicago Bulls or even the Miami Heat, but his former team might not even make the playoffs at their current losing pace, so Allen is probably looking and thinking to go in a different direction.
The Hawks are all about shooting from beyond the arc. Their entire system is about spreading the floor, which is the hottest trend in this league over the past few years. The Hawks, at least at the moment, are doing it better than anyone, which should make Allen feel very comfortable, not required to do anything but hit 3-pointers and wait for the right moment and the right pass, something he has done extremely well over the years.
The Cavaliers offer a bit more familiarity with James, Mike Miller and James Jones. They also offer a team that is looking for a bit more help than the Hawks, who seem to be doing so well it’d be a shame if anyone or anything interrupted or interfered with all the success they’ve been having. Allen, like he was in the summer and shortly after the season began, is in no rush to make up his mind.