While the world waits with bated breath (or restless cynicism) to see if LeBron James will indeed bolt Cleveland to form a Big Three in Miami alongside Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, the Boston Celtics have quietly kept their own Big Three intact. A few days after extending Paul Pierce to a four-year, $61 million deal, Boston has reached an agreement with sharpshooter Ray Allen, re-signing the soon-to-be 35-year old to a two-year, $20 million deal, according to Yahoo!'s Marc Spears. The second year is reportedly a player option, meaning Allen can opt-out after just one season.
Celtics Re-Sign Ray Allen To Two-Year, $20 Million Deal
After extending Rajon Rondo to a laughably cheap $50 million extension just after last season began, keeping Pierce, Allen and coach Doc Rivers, the Celtics have managed to keep their core together at not that exorbitant a cost, considering the crazy deals that have been flying around in free agency thus far. Granted, the Celtics did stumble through the regular season last year before turning it on in the playoffs, so there are definite questions about whether the team will hit a wall soon...but they did come within a few plays of winning the title again; until they are clearly finished it's hard to justify breaking the team up.
Allen, meanwhile, reportedly resisted overtures from LeBron James to follow the Global Icon to Miami as the team’s designated spot-up shooter, per Jessica Camerato of WEEI.com.
For more on Allen and the Celtics, check out the aptly-named Celtics Blog.
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