Golden State Warriors: The Pros & Cons Of Signing Ray Allen
By Luke Duffy
If you were in charge of the hottest team in the NBA right now, one with legit championship credentials and a team chemistry that appears second to none in the league, would you really want to mess with the formula?
Perhaps not, but when a two-time NBA champion, and owner of arguably a top-five all time great clutch/iconic shot is out there and maybe interested in joining the team, how difficult is that to turn your back on? That’s exactly what the 39-year-old Ray Allen is, and on top of that is one of the most dedicated players the league has seen.
He has also made the most three-pointers in league history, and previous clubs the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat can testify to how important that range can be. When you put it that way, why wouldn’t the Golden State Warriors go after this guy, hard?
Well, let’s start with exactly why they should. A team can never have too many long-range threats in the game. Talk about stretching opposition defences beyond recognition. Adding Allen to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson would make this probably the most deadly trio of long-range shooters in league history.
Imagine Curry dribbling down the court, getting double-teamed, and so kicking it off to Thompson. Thompson, himself having a career year and justifying his payday, doesn’t like what he sees either (which is rare) and so passes to a lurking Allen in the corner. How do you stop that?
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While the range and dedication were mentioned above, that championship experience would be huge as well. If this is the real thing in Golden State, they don’t have much playoff experience throughout the whole team.
Players like Curry and Thompson have tasted the postseason, Andre Iguodala as well, but having a player who knows what it takes could really be the final piece that gets them over the hump. Curry’s numbers actually usually dip a little in the postseason, to be expected with the increased level of defense.
So having Allen there to take some of the scoring load in key time would be huge. He’d be available for a snip of a team’s salary cap as well and probably wouldn’t stay with the team beyond this season.
But yet there is reason to move carefully here. Team chemistry is extremely hard to conjure, and already the Warriors have two bruised egos in Iguodala and Harrison Barnes on their roster.
Both have taken reduced roles to make this work, and while that’s fine right now with this team beyond rolling, taking anymore time from them could push them over the edge. Iguodala, in particular, was Philadelphia’s go to guy, and to see him handle his role change so well has been admirable.
There’s also the old “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” mantra this team has to think about. At present, this team is a top-10 offensive organization (sixth in the league), playing a dazzling array of basketball. Curry and Thompson shoot the lights out, Shaun Livingston isn’t terrible off the bench.
Marreese Speights has been a mini revelation, his 12.5 points off the pine huge for this team. Leandro Barbosa might only average 5.5 points a game, but he keeps things ticking off the bench as well.
All of this, and we haven’t even mentioned center Andrew Bogut, Draymond Green (13.2 points replacing Iguodala in the starting lineup) or the injured David Lee.
So it’s safe to say that, while it’s always great to have Allen’s surefire three-pointers on your team, is it really needed looking at what’s been mentioned above. Here’s where it gets trickier though. Allen at this point in his career is a hired gun, a marksman. At present, the Warriors are the best defensive team in the NBA.
The groundwork was laid by their last coach, Mark Jackson, and has been continued and improved upon by rookie head coach Steve Kerr. They defend so well as a unit, it’s hard to see them falling outside a top-five defense all season. Heck, even Curry plays team defense to a reasonable standard in this current setup.
Allen is too old to give much of anything defensively, and for sure that would hurt this team as a whole.
Having him off the bench with the hard-nosed Livingston and Iguodala could be an idea though, if Allen is willing to come in and be not just a clearly defined player, but one who plays off the bench. Still though, that trio has all the two-way skills combined to be one of the better second unit lineups in the league.
Then when the playoffs roll around, Allen can join the starting five for key moments if heroics are needed.
Here is perhaps the most difficult factor to consider when thinking about bringing Ray Allen on board. There are only so many minutes a coach can distribute to his players, and at present it is a balancing act for Kerr.
Iguodala won’t want to take any less of a role for sure, and Livingston, Speights and even Barbosa are contributing on the more limited playing time they also receive. You can’t eat into Curry or Thompson’s minutes, and Barnes seems pretty near tipping point as well.
So what exactly has to give to get Ray Allen playing on this team. More importantly, is it worth it?
Here’s why I’m all for it though. You can’t teach the poise and experience Allen has. In the locker room alone he’d be a huge plus, his tales from playoff wars of the past helping this team towards the postseason. The Warriors current magical run can’t last forever, and make no mistake there are some trying times ahead.
Having Allen in the ear of the younger players, explaining this is the journey and what it takes, well that’s just huge. Add in the fact he can still contribute on the court as well, and it’s hard to ignore the guy.
Besides, injuries unfortunately are a part of this game, and if one player sits out a few games, there are few better reserves than Allen to call upon. It would be great to see this happen, but there’s always that niggling possibility it could go wrong.