New York Notes: Allen, Lopez, Foye

Ray Allen is seriously considering a return to the NBA and Longtime Knicks fan Spike Lee has been trying to persuade Allen to sign with New York, Ian Begley of ESPN.com passes along. “Spike Lee has been trying to recruit me,” Allen said. “We’ve been texting.” Begley adds that it’s not clear whether the team has interest in bringing the shooting guard aboard. New York has 16 players under contract, as the team’s depth chart at Roster Resource indicates, though only 14 of those deals are fully guaranteed.

Here’s more from New York:

• Brook Lopez helped recruit free agents to the Nets this offseason and the big man finds himself enjoying his place on the team, Fred Kerber of The New York Post writes. “It’s abnormal,” Lopez said. “It’s a good feeling. I know they’ve been harping on the culture and all but it’s a completely unique feel this time, like we’re moving in that right direction. It’s something people actually want to be a part of.”
• Randy Foye, who signed a one-year, $2.5MM deal with the Nets, believes he could have signed a better deal elsewhere in free agency, but GM Sean Marks‘ vision for the franchise compelled him to come to Brooklyn, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News writes. “There was more talk about building a culture,” Foye said. “A lot of places you go, they search and look for superstars to fill voids every year. But I think this here is more of a culture. And just see how the Spurs and how they build a culture, they have three guys and have other guys come in and are a part of that culture and help build that culture. And that was one of the most important reasons for me signing here.”
• Foye added that he is coming to the Nets “with no ego” and he has no expectation of starting, Bondy passes along in the same piece.