By: Pedro Heizer
This off-season, the rich got richer.
The Miami Heat were able to pull off yet another amazing off-season deal and acquired free agents Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis for much less than they would have gotten elsewhere.
Allen, a 10-time NBA All-Star and the best three-point shooter in the history of the game, comes to Miami after rejecting a two-year, $12 million offer to return to the Celtics and accepted a three-year deal with Miami, who were limited to their mid-level exception amount of slightly more than $3 million per season.
Lewis on the other hand, signed a deal for $2.6 million over two years at the veteran’s minimum.
Both will be reunited as teammates for the first time since they both donned a Seattle Supersonics jersey in the early 2000’s.
In Allen and Lewis, the Heat gain two players who have made a career out of spreading the floor and knocking down three-pointers. That skill set is a priority in Miami, where shooters are at a premium around LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
But the question remains, how will Coach Spoelstra utilize these new acquired gems?
Word around the street is Dwyane Wade will be moved to the one in the starting line-up so Allen can be at the two. Others are saying Wade will be benched because he’s “not the same as he once was” when he led the Heat to their first NBA Title and the 37 year old Allen will start in front of him. Others, like me, believe Allen and Lewis will both come off the bench and provide a much needed spark to a bench that, at times, was mediocre.
Miami’s bench last season averaged 22.9 points per game, Allen alone averaged 14.2 points last season and Lewis, a 14-year veteran, who has been slowed by injuries each of the past two seasons has averaged about 10 points per game these last two seasons.
Look, it’s no surprise that the Heat made acquiring Allen their top priority this off-season to add depth to a perimeter rotation that includes Shane Battier, Mike Miller and James Jones.
Miami’s bench, with players like Miller, Jones and Battier were only 35% from three-point range while Allen alone last season was a remarkable 45%.
Allen is a 16-year veteran that has made 2,718 three-pointers and averaged 20 points over a career that has included stops in Milwaukee and Seattle before he was traded to Boston five years ago.
Allen is the perfect Sixth Man for the Heat. He would come in and provide the sparkplug they needed so much during last season. He’s the kind of player that when on the court you just assume all his shots are going in.
As we know, Spoelstra usually leaves at least one of the Big Three on the court at all times so Allen would still play with LeBron, Wade, and Bosh but just not as a starter.
Miami’s starting lineup is fine, and as the old saying says “Don’t fix what’s not broken”.
Mario Chalmers has proved he’s bound for greatness in the NBA after a sensational playoff run, Wade is still the Wade of old and not playing in the Olympics this summer might have been the best thing he’s ever done. LeBron is well… sensational. And Bosh is getting his back better and will be a force on the boards.
The only position that needs some attention is the center position.
Both Allen and Lewis would be starters in basically every other team in the league and that’s Miami’s greatest weapon.
When other teams go to their bench to rest their starters, Coach Spoelstra will be able to go to a bench that consists of players like Allen, Lewis, Haslem, and Cole who could easily be starters in maybe 25 of the 30 teams in in the league, the other teams will have a bad time.