I have no great love for Tony Allen, but I do think he gets some unfair treatment here. I think Danny and Doc like Tony more than most on this blog do, and there must be some reason for that. First, Tony is not a cancer on this team -- he has been paid about what he's worth and he seems to be an engaged and positive teammate. He is always the first on his feet to applaud his teammates and he never seems to complain about his role despite the fact that his role has changed constantly since his arrival (in large part due to injury -- his and others). Tony turns the ball over way too often -- which matters a great deal -- but I think Tony has always been a guy who needs a well-defined role and he hasn't been given one. He is not one who should be encouraged to be creative out there or to run an offense through. Though there have been times he's actually been expected to carry a good part of the offensive load. He's been asked to be everything from the point guard to the lead scorer to the defensive stopper -- and he really isn't up to doing any of these things with excellence. BUT, he is (and will be) a decent player to have on a bench. He plays adequate man to man defence and can score fairly efficiently (48% career scorer). He provides energy and he has shown the ability to fill in for a period of time when a star player is injured. He was still reovering from his latest injury last year and has likely never truly gotten back to form after his horrendous knee injury of a few year's back. He is a $1 to $2 million player who is valuable as a 9th/10th/11th guy. If the roster spots are available, I'd just as soon see him there than Giddens/Walker based on what I've seen thus far (though that might change over the course of this year).