Cavs Rumors: Would Ray Allen Even Help?
Ray Allen‘s name is continuing to come up in Cavs rumors — but would he even help at this point?
The Cleveland Cavaliers are coming off of a feel-good 106-74 thrashing of the Orlando Magic, but at 6-7, they’re far from happy with how the season is going and still have many deficiencies. Would free agent shooting guard Ray Allen help to fill some of those holes?
Chris Broussard of ESPN.com tweeted that Allen continues to bide his time and that the Cavs would be one of the teams interested in the 39-year-old sharpshooter.
Cavs, Bulls, Wizards, Spurs among the 7 teams interested in Ray Allen. Allen's in Miami, keeping himself in shape
— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) November 24, 2014
As of now, the Cavaliers are a middling 3-point shooting team in terms of attempts (16th in NBA) and makes (15th), and are in the top-10 in percentage made (9th, .367). The team’s top-3 scorers are all faring well, with LeBron James at .400, Kyrie Irving at .418 and Kevin Love at .355.
Where the Cavs have the greatest need is in the middle — specifically, a rim protector. Anderson Varejao and Tristan Thompson haven’t been getting the job done and as a whole, the Cavaliers are No. 19 in points allowed (100.5 per game) and No. 20 in defensive rating (107.2).
Allen wouldn’t help defensively — if anything, he’d hurt them on that end. The worse the perimeter defense, the more pressure gets put on the already taxed front line.
On the flip side of things, Allen is a veteran shotmaker who can be trusted to take (and make) big shots. He had a down year in 2013-14 and still put up a shooting line of .442/.375/.905. His PER was a career-worst 12.8.
So the bottom line — would Allen be worth a flier for the Cavaliers? At best, he can come off the bench for 15 minutes per night to help spread the floor, but they’d have to protect him so much defensively that it might not be worth it. Keeping Allen away from other contenders could be worth it, but why soak up a roster spot for a guy that won’t play?
At this point, the Cavs should pass on Allen. They don’t need what he’s best at (shooting) and they’d have to alter their already shoddy defensive scheme to make up for him on the other end. It’s just not worth it.
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