Ray Allen was an unrestricted free agent heading into this season. He had gotten a lot of attention from various NBA teams, such as the Memphis Grizzlies, the Chicago Bulls, the Atlanta Hawks, the San Antonio Spurs, the Golden State Warriors, and the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to RealGM.
However, the deadline for the NBA trades has already passed, and Allen is still team-less. Pro Basketball has confirmed that Allen had opted to sit out this season. Despite being one of the most in-demand basketball players for the coming season, he reportedly wanted to spend more time with his family and away from the game.
A separate report from Realty Today has indicated that LeBron James of the Cavs has been busy trying to recruit Allen. James Jones and Mike Miller have reportedly been talking to Allen about making his way back to the hardwood floors. The report even mentioned that the Cavs have purposely reserved a spot on their roster open.
His agent had already given a statement, telling everyone that Allen will be sitting out what remains of the NBA 2015 campaign. “NBA All-Star Ray Allen will not play during the 2014-2015 NBA season,” said his agent, Jim Tanner, the president of Tandem Sports + Entertainment. “Allen will take the remainder of this season and the off-season to reassess for the 2015-2016 NBA season.”
“Ray has received enormous interest from a number of NBA teams throughout this season,” Tanner said, according to Bleacher Report. “We will communicate with interested teams as Ray makes a decision for the 2015-2016 season.”
“Over the past several months, I have taken a lot of time to deliberate what is best for me,” Allen said through a press release that was given to TandemSE. “I’ve ultimately decided that I will not play this NBA season.”
Marc Spears of Yahoo! Has even reported last July that Allen has already decided that he was going to retire, and that he was going to officially announce it after his 18th professional season. However, nothing came of this rumor and Allen never said anything about leaving the sport for good.
Allen may have taken some time off from the sport, but this does not immediately mean that he has just made his retirement announcement. It is still very much possible that Allen’s fans will be hearing about multiple teams planning to sign him to their roster for next season.
The Hall of Famer may be 40 years old next season, but his shooting ability, paired with his winning pedigree, will, surely, keep the aforementioned teams, maybe even more, interested in getting him in their roster for the 2015-2016 season.
