Ray Allen: What Will His Role Be With Miami?

Doc Rivers and Paul Pierce both sound like a significant other that has been left at the altar over the fact that Ray Allen has signed with the Miami Heat. It is hard to blame them for being a little bitter over the fact that Allen left them after they all played a role in building very successful teams in Boston. Ray Allen clearly thinks that his skill set was not being properly used with the Boston Celtics and hopefully he will find what he is looking for with the Miami Heat.

Allen was reportedly upset that he wasn’t as big of a focal point within the Celtics offense, in the same way that he was in the past. Allen won’t be getting the ball as much in Miami as he did in Boston, but he may just be looking to win a championship. The Heat are likely to remain competitive for a number of years while people are always predicting that the “widow has closed” on the Boston Celtics.
Mike Miller and Rashard Lewis truly seem to fit the same kind of role that Ray Allen would likely fit on the Heat roster, with the big three still getting the bulk of the attention. The Heat obviously saw a gap with their outside shooting that could be filled. A number of teams still try to zone the Heat up and they need to be able to shoot teams out of that zone.

If you are a guy like Mike Bibby, you have to be a little bit upset that you couldn’t consistently knock down an outside shot for Miami and thus remain on their roster. Mike Miller took the time to thank Pat Riley and the rest of the organization for not leaving him out to pasture after he had all of those back problems.
The Heat have been known to give a chance to guys that some people either say are washed up or simply not motivated. The amount of production that Rashard Lewis has put up over the last couple of years may be a good sign that the Heat are willing to give a second chance to players that many observers have been critical of.