The Cleveland Cavaliers clearly won the offseason. The team brought back LeBron James, traded for Kevin Love and brought in a slew of veterans to help round out the roster. There has been a slight South Beach surge in Cleveland as former Miami Heat players like Mike Miller and James Jones opted to join James with the Cavaliers rather than sign elsewhere. Cleveland is hoping to complete that push by nabbing Ray Allen before training camp is over. Dwyane Wade sees what they are doing and he does not sound particularly thrilled.
The Cavaliers roster is stacked and Allen would only add to that. Reports surfaced on Tuesday that a contract with the shooting guard was essentially complete and Allen would join the Cavaliers for the final weeks of training camp. James has been pushing for his former teammate to join Cleveland hoping he would be the final piece to the playoff puzzle. No one expected Allen to make a decision quickly since the veteran made it clear he had very little interest in attending training camp. When asked about the potential of Allen heading to Cleveland, Wade simply laughed.
NBA writer for Turner Sports, Ethan J. Skolnick, writes that Wade claims Cleveland is trying to copy what the Miami Heat did over the past few seasons. The veteran said, "They're taking what we did here and trying to duplicate it there. That means we did something right here." Whether that was some kind of shot to the Cavaliers is up for debate, but Wade is correct in noting that Miami built a championship team and Cleveland is trying to do the same. It just so happens they are using some of the same players.
It has yet to be confirmed that Allen is in fact joining the Cavaliers. The guard has been pursued by a number of teams including the Heat, San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers. Allen wants to join a championship roster while still getting paid a decent amount. The guard told the media earlier in the offseason that most teams are offering the veteran's minimum and he believes he is worth more.
The Cavaliers and Heat will have their first highly-anticipated matchup this Saturday in a preseason exhibition. Naturally, both sides are downplaying the drama the media is trying to build around it, saying it is simply a chance for everyone to get better regardless of who the opponent is.
"Everybody's going to hype it up, and it's going to be a big deal,'' Bosh said, via ESPN.com. "But for us, it's just another opportunity to get better. We know everything that's surrounding the situation, and it is what it is. As far as we're concerned, this is our team, this is what we're trying to build toward, the past is the past, we're moving on, and it's good to get this out of the way.''
