The Cleveland Cavaliers have dropped two straight games, and the question of if they need Ray Allen has come up once again with varying degrees of seriousness.
When the Cleveland Cavaliers assembled a proverbial A-Team of talent with LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love this offseason, it seemed like an afterthought that Ray Allen would be joining the team at some point in time. But here we sit almost a half-year later and Ray Allen remains not only a free agent but undecided about his future in the NBA.
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But just like how it was a foregone conclusion a few months ago that the Cavaliers were going to sign Ray Allen, it still seems to be a foregone conclusion in the minds of fans that the Cavaliers need Allen on the roster. That’s simply not the case and signing him at this point in the season wold be a dire mistake.
Let’s be honest, the Cavaliers could definitely use Allen’s three-point production but it’ snot like they don’t have that capability already on their roster. All Mike Miller does is shoot three pointers, Kevin Love is the best perimeter three point shooter in the NBA, while James Jones is a former three-point contest winner.
Suffice it to say, the Cavaliers have more than enough three point shooting talent on their roster and they’re having trouble finding minutes for them to get on the court. That’s not to say Allen wouldn’t be award more minutes almost instantly, but that has got to be something he’s thinking about when weighing the Cavaliers against other teams.
What the Cavaliers need isn’t three point shooting — it’s defense. If the Cavaliers were to use an open roster spot on Ray Allen, they’d be directly neglecting their dire need for a rim protector and defensive assistance.
Instead of spending the money and the roster spot on Ray Allen, the Cavaliers are much better served looking at someone like Emeka Okafor who can fill an actual need for the Cavaliers. As they’ve made abundantly clear this season, they’re not going to be winning any shootouts this season and will not be beating teams by outscoring them.
That’s why Allen isn’t a necessity at the moment and someone like Okafor would be a much better addition. That’s assuming the Cavaliers are looking to add a player, which they’re not right now, but if a roster spot opens up they’d be best served not spending it on a flashy pick like Ray Allen.
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