JULY 23RD: Allen is leaning towards returning for a 19th season to join LeBron with the Cavs, sources tell Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (via Twitter). We heard earlier tonight that Allen will be making a decision once he gets MRIs on his legs.
JULY 12TH, 9:46am: If Allen plays another season, it will be with the Cavs, sources tell Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio. Amico notes that Cleveland has been in contact with Allen’s agent as their efforts to add familiar veterans around LeBron James intensify.
2:51pm: The Cavs haven’t had contact with Allen yet, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
1:13pm: Allen’s priority is to keep playing with LeBron, wherever LeBron chooses to go, tweets Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick.
JULY 9TH, 10:10am: The Cavs are trying to woo free agent Ray Allen, reports Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (on Twitter), but the shooting guard is strongly considering retirement, as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders hears (Twitter link). The pursuit Allen would appear to be part of Cleveland’s effort to entice LeBron James to sign there after the Cavs agreed to a trade this morning that will give them enough cap room to accommodate a max contract for James.
Allen, who’s 11 days shy of his 39th birthday, has been leaning toward returning for another season with the hope of playing with James for another season, but it’s unclear whether he wants to follow the four-time MVP from Miami to Cleveland should James elect to move north. The Jim Tanner client remains one of the league’s better three-point shooters, though his accuracy from behind the arc slipped to 37.5% this past season, his lowest mark in four years after three straight seasons in which he bettered his career percentage of 40.0%.
the cavs need shooting bad …