Riley Closes Deal Again With Allen
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – When Ray Allen agreed late Friday night to join the Miami Heat; the reaction in Miami was one of joy and in Boston, the fans turned against him faster than you can say Judus.
Even SI.com's Chris Mannix got in on the action on Twitter trashing Ray Allen.
"In Italy. Venice. Just read about Ray Allen. As a casual Celtics fan, very casual, I have three syllables for Ray: wah, wah, wah," Maniix tweeted.
The Heat made Allen their target as soon as the NBA Championship celebration ended. Allen spent much of Thursday afternoon and night with Heat officials and left town without giving the Heat an answer. But Heat owner Micky Arison announced the acquisition via Twitter late Friday night.
For the Heat, they are signing arguably the best three-point shooter in the NBA when he's healthy. Allen is coming off ankle surgery that severely limited him in the playoffs. Even with the ankle problem, he still helped push the Heat to a seven-game Eastern Conference finals this year.
According to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, Allen was growing tired of the way he was being treated in Boston. Yahoo! said Allen didn't appreciate the way he was dangled in trade talks, told he was traded at one point before the team changed its mind, and didn't appreciate not getting his starting job back.
Yahoo! said Allen felt like "he was the Celtics star made to sacrifice above the rest." But, according to Yahoo!, the driving force sending Allen away was the deteriorating relationship with Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo.
Against that backdrop, the Heat deployed the best recruiter in the NBA, team president Pat Riley. The Heat sold Allen on still being a key ingredient in multiple championship runs.
The Heat is coming off the first championship of the Big Three-era and Chris Bosh and LeBron James are still very much in their prime. Dwyane Wade is right on the fringe of his prime, so the Heat have plenty of juice left for more championships.
In Boston, the original Big Three of Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett are getting up there in years. Allen will be 37 when he joins the Heat this year, but in Boston Garnett will be 37 and Pierce is slowing down at the small forward position which doesn't bode well for the team.
Allen will be expected to do what he does best in Miami, shoot the ball. He doesn't have to be a star defender or dynamic scorer. All Allen has to do is wait for the kick out pass from LeBron, Wade, or Bosh and then drain the open perimeter shots.
The rich just got richer in Miami, but Boston will have plenty to say of its own when the two teams battle it out in the next few years.
