Never mind that Ray Allen is on the wrong side of 39, he’s a wanted man.
Contenders have been lining up for Allen’s services since LeBron James decided to sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Any and all efforts or links—those made by the San Antonio Spurs, the Chicago Bulls and (possibly) the Los Angeles Clippers—were expected to be for naught. They were even laughable on some level. Why try? Of course he was going to join LeBron in Cleveland.
Except he hasn’t.
Not yet.
Less than two weeks away from the start of the regular season, Allen hasn’t decided whether to retire or continue playing. Most of us expect that he’ll eventually join the Cavs, but Allen has been very hush-hush of late, so we don’t really know. What we do know is the Milwaukee Bucks, who are about as far away from contention as a team can be, contacted Allen.
CSN Washington’s J. Michael previously revealed the Bucks were interested in signing Allen. On Tuesday, head coach Jason Kidd confirmed that interest, per the Journal Sentinel‘s Charles F. Gardner:
Bucks coach Jason Kidd said the team had sincere interest in bringing veteran Ray Allen back to the team during the past summer, but the former Bucks player was not inclined to return…
“We did contact Ray,” Kidd said. “He’s weighing his options to see where he wants to go. But we did have interest.”
…
“We thought, just like the fans, that it might be a good situation for him to be able to come back and also teach the young guys,” Kidd said. …
“We thought he would be a good piece for us to try to get but he didn’t have any interest.”
Even proponents of the “it never hurts to try” stance have to be flabbergasted here. Allen? Sign with the Bucks? Without a gun to his head?
The sweet-shooting Allen did spend six-plus seasons in Milwaukee–back when the Bucks weren’t a perennial dumpster fire—but contacting him 18 years into his career was ballsy.
Slinging the mentor card is worthless when it comes to veterans with options. More often than not, they’ll latch onto contenders rather than play for a team immediately incapable of doing anything or going anywhere. Allen made his twilight intentions clear the moment he left money on the table with the Boston Celtics and signed with the Miami Heat. He wants rings. And though he already has two, the idea that he’ll continue his career on a team that doesn’t give him a chance at No. 3 is insane and inane.
But hey! At least the Bucks tried. Can’t really blame or fault them for that. Maybe they thought Kidd’s power-hungry plays with the Brooklyn Nets would speak to Allen. Maybe they were prepared to offer him a post-career coaching position under the table. Without Lawrence Frank, Kidd does need someone to scribble journal entries and mindlessly hold clipboards. Allen could have been that someone.
Now he’s just some guy, with plenty of other options at his disposal, wondering whether to play a 19th year on a team that’s not asking him to babysit amid excessive losing.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
