Teams Courting Ray Allen
This off-season was the offseason of LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. King James returned home to Cleveland while Melo stayed in New York. Let's not forget the summer of, "which team will the Wolves trade Kevin Love too." Love ended up being traded to none other than the Cavs, to join forces with James and Kyrie Irving.
The Cavaliers loaded up luring back LeBron James to play alongside Kyrie Irving, who just recently signed a new 5-year $90 Million dollar contract extension. With James, Irving and Love forming the new "Big 3," Cleveland went to work adding veterans who took less money and less years to play for the new favorites to hang a championship banner up in the rafters. Mike Miller, a favorite of LeBron was brought in and James Jones was brought over directly from the Heat to appease LeBron and fill out the team's roster.
Obviously 9 out of 10 people will say that Cleveland had the best off-season, while some others will argue that the Spurs had the best off-season. What did the Spurs do you ask? They didn't add many new pieces to the puzzle making their squad better than last year. But who can argue that keeping the same players you had that won the Championship was not the best move. The Spurs resigned the Argentine Manu Ginobili to a 2-year deal and also added Boris Diaw who fits quite nicely into Coach Pops' game plan. Patty Mills got extended although he is injured until at least the all-star break. The Red Rocket or Red mamba, Matt Bonner also re-signed with the Spurs. The Spurs added Kyle Anderson from UCLA in the 2014 NBA Draft. San Antonio snatched him up before he fell even further than expected.
The last piece to the Puzzle is NBA Veteran, former multi-time NBA Champion and the best 3-point shooter in NBA history, Jesus Shuttlesworth otherwise known as Ray Allen. It was a given that he would sign with the Heat. Now Allen is being courted by the Spurs and the Clippers. Allen is reportedly deciding between hanging up his size 15 sneakers and suiting up for another season with the team that will give him his best chance at his 3rd championship ring. The Spurs are also pursuing signing Mexican big man Gustavo Ayon, so if Allen doesn't decide soon, he will be picking between a reunion with Coach Doc Rivers in L.A. and a reunion with LeBron.
By Steven Spector - 8-30-14
