Ray Allen is the top NBA free agent target left on the market and the Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, LA Clippers, Washington Wizards and San Antonio Spurs are all interested in signing him, while former teammate LeBron James is looking to convince him to come to play with the Cavs and win another championship after their time with the Miami Heat.
According to ESPN.com, Allen should be making a decision soon and right now it appears that the Cavaliers and the Bulls are the top options. The Spurs have been interested in Allen along with the Wizards, but he has said that he wants to win another title. Playing in Cleveland would be a step towards that, while the Clippers, Spurs and Bulls are all options as well that could make runs to a title.
Allen played limited minutes with Miami last season, but he has shown that he can still hit the three with the best of them. Allen is one of the top outside shooters of all time and he would join a roster of veterans and young players in Cleveland with Mike Miller, James Jones, Shawn Marion and Anderson Varejao. LeBron James has been lobbying him to sign in Cleveland and a decision could be coming soon.
The Cavaliers come into the season with Kevin Love and adding Ray Allen would only boost their position as the favorites in the east. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves made the Kevin Love trade with Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett will be traded and after that, the Philadelphia 76ers joined in with Thaddeus Young to make it three new players for the Wolves.
Previously, some around the league have speculated that the trade could get blocked after reports came out about Love signing a five year contract after he opts out next season, but as long as that's not on paper, the teams should be fine. According to ESPN.com, the Wolves and Cavs had some details to work out past the main package, but that never hung up the deal. The Timberwolves have already acquired a few players with non-guaranteed deals and they likely will be traded at some point.
The Golden State Warriors were one of the first teams into talks with the Timberwolves, but that got hung up on the fact that the Warriors did not want to trade Klay Thompson. The Timberwolves reportedly wanted Thompson more than any other player they were targeting for Love and that put the Golden State Warriors in a tough position to get the deal done. The team offered David Lee and Harrison Barnes in their package, but the team held tight on Thompson and wouldn't deal without him in the trade.
The Chicago Bulls also were battling with the Cavs about Love, but they also lost out to the Cavaliers and that adds some spice to the central division this season. The Bulls had a solid package with Taj Gibson, Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott, but the Wolves liked the potential of Wiggins over those rookies and over the experience if Gibson, who has dealt with injuries in his career from time to time.