Ray Allen: "If Celtics signed Durant in 2016, I would have rejoined Celtics"

[CelticsElite]

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/ray-allen-i-would-have-re-joined-celtics-if-they-signed-kevin-durant

 when the Celtics made a serious push for Kevin Durant during the 2016 offseason:


Retired NBA guard Ray Allen, who spent five seasons in Boston from 2007 to 2012, admitted Thursday he spoke with Danny Ainge in 2016 and told the Celtics president of basketball operations he was open to re-joining the C's if they landed Durant in free agency.

"I had a conversation with (Ainge) and I told him this was my last-ditch effort. I would’ve went back,” Allen said on WEEI's "Ordway, Merloni & Fauria" radio show.

"This was when Kevin Durant was a free agent. He was thinking about going to Boston. And I said, ‘Hey, if you guys land Kevin, I would certainly look at lacing them back up one more time and try to make something good happen here in Boston.' "

Pairing Allen with Durant would have made the Celtics an instant title contender, though, and likely would have helped Allen put his past behind him.

Alas, a cameo from Tom Brady wasn't enough for the C's to prevent Durant from joining the Golden State Warriors, leaving fans to ponder this new twist to one of the NBA's great "what ifs."

[CelticsPoetry]

So only way he thinks about rejoining the Cs is them being title favourites. Judas

[Roy H.]

Was Danny even interested? Ray would have been retired for more than two seasons at that point, and was hated by half the fan base.

[fairweatherfan]

Pairing Allen with Durant would have made the Celtics an instant title contender, though, and likely would have helped Allen put his past behind him.

Pairing almost anyone with Durant (and Horford) would've made us a title contender. But a 41-year-old Ray Allen wasn't going to move the needle much at all.

This does have some interesting parallels to the Big 3 era when Reggie Miller was flirting with unretiring to join them. Probably would've had a similarly limited impact though.

http://www.espn.com/espn/wire/_/section/nba/id/2990016

[gift]

Isaiah Thomas and Ray Allen both willing to come back. Antoine Walker came back with a positive attitude. I heard people hated Boston though.

[celts10]

I remember reading a few articles during that time which stated Ray Allen had serious interest in joining the Cavs, Celtics, and Bucks. None of the teams brought him on.

[GreenCoffeeBean]

Like we would have wanted him anyway.

[Adelaide Celt]

lol what an absolute band wagoner

[gpap]

I just love "after the fact news."

Like "oh, Ainge was REALLY close to trading for player a or player b"

And if I had 6 more arms, I'd be an octopus.

[liam]

Allen Ray, is he still around?


https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/rayal01.html

[Big333223]

He would've been welcomed back with open arms, played 5 minutes a game, and been a nice presence in the locker room. Would've been interesting.

When I think about the Durant thing now, though, I wonder what would've become of IT. He never would've had the opportunity to reach the heights he got to in '17 if Durant had signed. Would he still have been traded for Kyrie? Would Kyrie and Horford still be here? Would Kyrie have been easier to be around if Durant was the #1?

A lot of dominoes...

[CelticsElite]

Was Danny even interested? Ray would have been retired for more than two seasons at that point, and was hated by half the fan base.

I'm assuming ainge was the one who called ray in case they signed Durant, he was probably kicking the tires with ray

I'm seeing ray being targeted as a Sam cassell/ pj brown  type of locker room presence role for ray to be on the team

[blink]

There are a million what-if scenarios that happen with a big free agent signing, I care less about this one than most.

[86MaxwellSmart]

Quit being sour....We would have all welcomed him back, if Durant had signed here...We've won ONE title since 1986...and it wouldn't have happened without Ray...You guys forget that Danny tried to trade him several times before he signed with Miami.