Ray Allen Will Not Play This Season, Makes You Wonder if Cavs Got Hot and Lost Interest

Ray Allen, one of the best shooters in NBA history, and a close friend of LeBron James, has decided not to play this season, his agent just announced. Strangely, the press release says nothing about Allen retiring – just that he’s sitting out this season. Allen turns 40 in July.

Early this season, when the Cavs were struggling, it seemed like a lock that Allen would be added to the team after the All-Star break. But at the trading deadline, the Cavs made a significant trade to acquire JR Smith and Iman Shumpert – two shooting guards – and the team has been hot ever since. The Cavs gave up virtually nothing to get them and Denver center Timofey Mozgov, except Dion Waiters and a couple down-the-road draft picks they wouldn’t have been able to use until 2017.

Is Allen a better shooter than JR Smith? Of course. So sure, the Cavs could use him. But would Allen want to come into a situation where he’s got to fight for minutes with Smith and Shumpert, and some games, might end up not playing at all? That’s unclear. Shumpert is by far the best defender in that group, and he’ll probably be leaned on to defend the likes of John Wall or Jeff Teague or Jimmy Butler in the playoffs (or for the first three quarters at least; then LeBron would take over.) Mike Miller, who was used heavily early in the season, rarely plays now. They’re probably saving him for the playoffs.

Cleveland is currently 38-24, 4th in the East, but just one game back of the 2nd seed, Toronto.