Ray simply NEEDS to go! (No Ray bashing)

[Evantime34]

I think most of the following can be had before this year's deadline: Martin (SAC), Iguodala (PHI), J-Rich (PHO), Butler (WAS), Miller (WAS), Hinrich + Salmons (CHI), Maggette (GSW). Ray for one of those plus fillers, not sure which team would do it though. It's not impossible at all, and some teams might consider our offers. But I think we have to jump at the best offer available, if it's decent.

I would like to take that group and break it down.
There are a couple guys that I would trade Ray for without getting anything back or even taking on salary to aquire: Iguodala and Martin
There are guys that I would take if other players came back with them: Maggette, Miller and Butler.
There are guys that I'm not willing to center a deal around: J-Rich, Hinrich or Salmons.

If I had my way I'd get Martin or Iguodala, but I think the second option is the most likely.

[arctic 3.0]

There have been a ton of "we need to trade Ray" threads lately, and usually, what's inside is "it's absolutely imperative that we trade him for Iguodala or Martin".

What if those deals aren't available?  What if the best offer we've gotten is Ray for Hinrich and Thomas (i.e., a downgrade at SG and a marginal upgrade at backup/third-string PF).

If a younger star is available, of course we should move Ray at this point.  However, what if other teams don't want to hand us their star players?

if its hinrich deng i'd pull the trigger instantly. if its thomas i look for another team to involve in a 3 way.

any way
I agree with the OP.
ray's contract is our best shot at rebuilding on the fly.

i'm not to worried about ruining our chances this year... after the atl, orlando, la, orlando debacle i've come to believe that we will have a hard time making it out of the east this year.

[LarBrd33]

For me it's never been about getting rid of Ray, because he's "not good anymore".  Ray is fine.  He's the 2nd highest scorer on this team.  He's still a capable player.  He plays well with Rondo.  He's in great shape and might defy the odds and play at this level for another 3 years.   And really, If Ray Allen is still averaging 12-15 points on 45% shooting at the age of 39 (Reggie Miller style), I'm not going to be entirely shocked.   It's not about getting rid of Ray, because he's "not good enough".  It's always been about taking advantage of the NBA's financial circumstances.  Nothing more. 

Some of us have been talking about this since literally the day we landed Ray.  A lot of us were furious that we traded for Ray (pre-KG trade)... "he's old... he doesn't have much left... but maybe we can get something for that expiring contract in 2010".  It has nothing to do with Ray.   It's always been about this:

#1 - some NBA teams are failing to make money due to the economy
#2 - Some NBA teams are paying a ton of money for players who aren't helping them win (ala Pau Gasol in Memphis)
#3 - Some NBA teams are going to be desperately trying to free up cap space in an attempt to position themselves to land a "big name" in the history-making free agent "Class of 2010"
#4 - Ray Allen's 20 mil expiring contract becomes more valuable than Ray Allen as a player in Feb of 2010.

That's it.  That's all it's been about.  I never knew who the teams or players were going to be, but I knew the circumstances.  A couple years ago, I guesstimated that it was going to be something like Gilbert Arenas on the Wizards... maybe a package from the Clippers like Chris Kaman and Baron Davis... maybe Michael Redd from the Bucks.  Who knows.    Now that the deadline is approaching it seems the popular names are Andre Iguodala and Kevin Martin and (very unlikely) Luol Deng.   Those guys all happen to belong to situations that fit the above criteria.

And so here's the facts.  Iggy is better than Ray right now.  Martin is better than Ray right now.  And Deng is better than Ray right now.  All of them are much younger than Ray.   All of them are far more valuable than Ray as an asset.  And none of them could possibly be had for Ray unless some insane financial circumstances made them a possibility for us. 

It's always been about UPGRADING Ray thanks to his contract.  NOT trading him for someone, because "he's not getting it done".   Hinrich + Ty Thomas does not fit this mold.  You trade Ray for Hinrich if Ray is a problem on the team.  And Ray is NOT a problem on this team.   It's not fair to scapegoat him for this team's struggles.  Ray is fine... I just think that we could POSSIBLY get a better player thanks to his expiring contract.  It's unlikely, but we'll see what happens. 

Bottom line:  We don't need to trade Ray just to trade Ray... we need to trade Ray if his expiring contract can get us a better (younger) player.