http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/features/rumors Ray to Stay <Jul. 5> Ray Allen's agent, Lon Babby, told ESPN Insider Chad Ford that Allen has agreed to terms with the Sonics on a five-year deal.
well...looks like Mr Redd just became the top prize FA...and Lebron promptly flies to his house and offers him his firstborn..
As long as Seattle's main post presence is from an Eastern European country, they will continue to dog paddle in mediocrity. They're basically the late 90's Rockets, except that a broke down, 37 year old Hakeem with a gimp leg is still better than Radmanovic...
This was a real chance to move to a contender or play with someone like Lebron. I don't get it. Seattle is good, but I don't think they are good enough to win it all. Ray Allen can be a difference maker. But not so much on Seattle.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2100705 Deal is for five years, agent says By Chad Ford ESPN Insider Ray Allen was wooed by LeBron James, Mike Dunleavy and that Atlanta Hawks for the last five days. In the end, he decided that there was no place like home. Allen's agent, Lon Babby, said Tuesday morning that Allen has agreed to terms with the Sonics on a five-year deal. Babby refused to divulge the contract amount. The Sonics' last known offer was for 5 years, $75 million, and their latest offer is expected to exceed that. Allen can't sign a contract until the league lifts its player movement moratorium. That ban is expected to be lifted on July 22, though there's been talk around the league that it could be pushed back as much as week. The move should have major ramifications for both the Sonics and the rest of the free agent market. Now that the Sonics have re-signed Allen, look for them to get aggressive in bringing back the rest of the pieces, including head coach Nate McMillan, that helped the Sonics secure a third seed in the West. The Sonics are also trying to re-sign free agents Vladimir Radmanovic, Antonio Daniels, Reggie Evans, Jerome James and Ronald Murray. Allen's agreement with the Sonics will also have affect on a number of other free agent two guards looking for new deals. The Clippers and Hawks had made Allen a top priority, and the Cavs had Allen as their back-up plan should Michael Redd decide to return to Milwaukee. With Allen now out of the picture, expect both Los Angeles and the Atlanta to turn to the next top available free agent guards -- Joe Johnson and Larry Hughes. Johnson is a restricted free agent who has garnered a large amount of interest around the league. However, teams have been slow to offer him a contract because of the Suns ability (and stated intention) to match any deal. Hughes is an unrestricted free agent who, statistically, was at the top of his class. However, it's been widely assumed that he'll re-sign with the Wizards. The Wizards can offer Hughes an extra year and more money than either the Hawks or Clippers. After those two, the market drops off pretty dramatically. Bobby Simmons, Marko Jaric, Cuttino Mobley, Latrell Sprewell and Gerald Wallace are the next best guards on the board.
Crazy as it sounds, I was thinking a move to the Clips would make a lot of sense for Allen. They would have been fairly scary with Brand, Maggete, a healthy Livingston, and him. Guess the money was all that mattered to him in the end. Evan
This says a lot about Ray Allen. Sure, he could have taken a ride on Lebron Jame's coattails to a possible championship; but he chose to try and lead his own team to the same fate and make a Seattle icon out of himself in the process.
Word seems to be that Allen wasn't Cleveland's first choice. They've been putting a huge push to get Redd since the beginning.
Am I understanding you correctly when you say that someone chose to stay with the Sonics over the Clippers just because of money?
Five year deal when he was eligible for six? That's strange. This is his last contract of note; I figured he'd insist on max years.
I would think the same thing, but maybe Allen really wanted to stay in Seattle, and to get it done, yielded that sixth year. Also, Allen has a bit of intellect, and, although few would say it's smart giving up a 6th year and a ton of money, it's possible that he knows he just might not be "that into" basketball when he's 35/6. One of the reasons George Karl and Ray Allen didn't get along---Karl denies it, of course---is that Allen claims Karl wanted intellect-free players (no distractions, no outside interests).
I may be wrong, but it seems that I read somewhere that the new CBA only allows for 5 year max deals. I can't remember where I read that though.
FA own team can offer up to 6 years (with 10% raises), other teams only to 5 years (with 8% raises). I really hope Cleveland lands Redd, otherwise they will probably take off the board at least 2 other good free agents (SAR, AD). This also makes the Clips more likely to offer significant money to Simmons. I think he is a real long shot now. On the plus side, I don't think Seattle when be in the FA market. At most try to keep most of their house in order, and they still probably lose a player or two from Vald Rad, Evans, AD and James. Reportedly the contract would be for $80 million over five years with an additional $5 million in performance bonuses. That is more than I thought a 5 year max contract could be (with the 10% raises), I wonder if because Allen is off a previous max deal if he is treated differently. Finally, the over 36 rule may come into play. It may be this 5 year deal is the most Allen could possibly make. Nah, stike that, he will be 30 later this month, so I guess he could have gotten the extra year with full compounding.
I know it seems like I spend half my posts ripping on Chad, but Babby had a conference call with reporters (including the AP, SI.com's Ian Thomsen, etc) to announce the deal. Yes, he "told ESPN Insider Chad Ford," along with a half-dozen other people.
When people are throwing you $15 mil per you'd start listening too. Basically it's money. I mean seriously, I honestly think that, unless Seattle resigns Daniels and Radmonavic (both likely) and get themselves a center or PF (like Dalembert, SAR, or even Swift), they can't make it out of the Western Conference. They DID push San Antone to brink of elimination but when it was all said and done, they still lost. I mean, if he really wanted to have a good chance at winning, there's nothing disgraceful about teaming up with LeBron at all.
I like the loyality of Ray Allen. Remember he got traded away from the Bucks to Seattle. Seattle showed him loyalty and he showed loyalty back. Ray Allen is great. He's like a nicer Vernon Maxwell.
