Tony Allen agrees to 4-year, $20 million contract to stay with Memphis Grizzlies

This is about as fair a deal as you can possibly find in free agency. Allen is essentially a basketball designated hitter; one of the league’s best defensively, one of the league’s worst offensively. That he signed for just under the average salary therefore makes a ton of sense.

The only downside is the length. Four years is a bit long for a 31-year-old, and I suspect Memphis may have preferred a shorter contract with higher annual value if the choice was presented to them again.

Allen was named to the NBA’s All-Defensive first team last season and also averaged 8.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. The 31-year-old helped the Grizzlies reach the Western Conference Finals with an excellent postseason peformance. In addition to his great defense, he averaged 12 points in a first round win over the Clippers, including 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the series-clinching victory.

There are concerns about the length of the deal because he will be 35 when it ends and $5 million per season is a lot to pay a defensive specialist, but Memphis officials deemed him integral to their team and paid him like it.

Allen is regarded as one of the top defensive guards in the league and continued to be a very valuable piece for the Grizzlies in 2012-13. He’s never been a volume scorer, but still managed to average just under nine points a game last season while aiding the Grizzlies to a Western Conference Finals appearance.

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