With not a lot happening in the NBA universe, the ‘will he or won’t he question’ involving Ray Allen is one of the biggest things around. One of the teams on the shortlist seem to be the Boston Celtics, but is Allen a good fit there? And it seems that Allen’s motivation for coming back could have a lot to do with Stephen Curry and the three-point record.
When Allen left the Celtics in 2012 for the Miami Heat, he didn’t do it on good terms. He was unhappy with Rajon Rondo, with Doc Rivers, and with the team trying to bring in Jason Terry to play next to him. And although he’s been in contact with Celtics personnel over the last few months, there is the question of whether or not it will take some reconciling with the decision makers in Boston, especially the ownership, not exactly thrilled about how things ended with Allen four years ago, especially the fact that he left to a rival and won a championship.
As for his motivation, seeing Curry destroying 3-point records year after year might be providing him with plenty of fuel to comeback, although Allen probably isn’t going to get too minutes and chances to really make his record that much more more difficult to reach. Allen has 2973 regular season 3-pointers. Stephen Curry? He’s 19th right now, with 1593.
But Curry has four of the top 7 seasons in terms of making 3-point field goals, including the top 2, all achieved in the last four years. He hit 402 last season, the only player in NBA history with 400 and 300. The closest thing to him is Klay Thompson with 276 last season. Curry might slow down in terms of 3-point pace because of Kevin Durant joining the team or maybe last year was an anomaly. However, with less than 1400 3-pointers to go for him, he’s about four years away from becoming the all-time leader himself.
But the most important question is whether a team finds Allen to be a good fit. It’s probably hard to find someone who won’t. At this point, he’ll be a shooter and nothing more, for not too many minutes a game. If he can still knock down 3-pointers at around 38% and better, even an ambitious team like the Celtics can find some minutes for him, especially when counting on his help as a veteran leader.