Ray Allen Signing Does Not Complete Cleveland Cavaliers’ Puzzle

By Dan Schultz @DSchultz89 on October 7, 2014

Early reports are indicating that Ray Allen has decided to leave the Miami Heat to put off retirement and join LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. If true, Allen would be yet another solid veteran presence in the Cleveland locker room along with former teammate Mike Miller and new teammate Shawn Marion. This move would come as no surprise, as it has long been believed that Allen would become a Cavalier if he decided to forego retirement.

While this is a great move for the Cavaliers, to suggest that Allen rounds out their roster is misguided. This is not a slight at Allen, who is a terrific player who brings a lot to the table, but the Cavaliers still lack a rim protector outside of James, who is mainly responsible for roaming the perimeter given that he is a natural small forward.

The only players to average at least a block per game last year for the Cavaliers were Andrew Bynum and Spencer Hawes, who are both no longer with the team. After that, their next best shot blocker is Anderson Varejao, who only averaged 0.6 BLKPG last year.

While Kevin Love, who is entering his first season with the team, is one of the best offensive players in the league at the power forward position, his defensive problems have been brought up many times in the past. To put it simply, the Cavaliers really do not have any big men who are threatening as a rim protector, which is still a cause for concern. Varejao, who will most likely be the starting center this year, is a fantastic energy player, but is also injury-prone and hard to count on for an entire season.

The good news is that I see this Cavaliers team becoming what the Phoenix Suns teams were in the mid to late 2000s while coached under Mike D’Antoni. Their offense will probably be off the charts due to new head coach David Blatt being known for his genius sets and designs. The bad news is that those Suns teams never won a championship because of their lack of defense and notable absence of a rim protector

This is not to suggest that the Cavaliers do not have a chance to win the championship because of their similarities to those teams, but it will be much more difficult without a true defensive presence in the post. Allen will fit in beautifully with Blatt’s intricate offense and will have a respectable season off the bench, but saying that he completes the puzzle for this Cavaliers team is far from true.

Dan Schultz is an NBA sports writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @dschultz89. “Like” him on Facebook and add him on Google.