Let's not forget that this happened two years ago with Ray. The media kept talking about how "contenders" like Miami desperately wanted Ray Allen and how he'd likely leave. What these media pundits totally disregarded in all of this speculation was that most of the teams that desperately wanted Ray didn't have any cap space.
While things are different this year with Avery Bradley supplanting him in the starting lineup and DA almost trading him, I think we could see much of the same happen this offseason.
Sure, Miami would probably love him. But guess what, he's not starting there either. And he's no lock to start in Chicago either, where Rip Hamilton could return and C.J. Watson needs minutes. Furthermore, with Rose having a torn ACL, is Chicago really still a contender?
Ultimately, while there's a smaller chance of him coming back, DA can still offer him more money than anyone else. And if the C's aren't going to spend it on a big name free agent, it couldn't hurt to overpay Ray for a year.
I also don't see why Doc and Danny couldn't give Ray the KG treatment. Let him start the game for the sake of his pride, but then pull him 5-7 minutes in for Bradley. Keep the minutes the same as they would be, but just let him start. Because if Jeff Green is back next year, the C's could actually bring in a running unit to close the first quarter with Bradley and Green coming in for some combination of Ray/PP/KG around the 6 minute mark.