Trade rumors are part of any and every professional sports athlete. Ray Allen, as amazing and clutch as he's been over the years, has been the focal point of the NBA's most recent whispers and there's nothing he can do to escape them.
And he's not about to start worrying about them, either.
"I can't say I get worried, because it's not like they say, 'Ray,
you're getting traded and you gotta move to Mars,' " Allen told ESPNBoston.com. "I
don't look at it like that. I simply go somewhere else and play. I've
been there before. I've been in that situation, where I wasn't expected
to be traded, then I was traded. I don't worry about it. If one day I'm
told I'm traded, and I have to move, there's nothing I can do about it.
That's the nature of this job, but family and those issues, that's
obviously something I'd have to deal with first."
The most recent trade rumors involve the Warriors, who are reportedly willing to send Monta Ellis and Vladamir Radmonovic to the C's in exchange for Allen, who sounds pretty comfortable in the Hub.
In fact, if it were up to him, he'd be draining 3-pointers in Boston's North End until he couldn't lift his arms anymore. The UConn alum and integral member of the Celtics' Big Three wants to remain a Celtic after this, his final season under contract.
"I'd like to be here," said the 34-year-old Allen. "There's no reason to be any other place. I'd love to retire with this organization. [But] that's up to the team. I want to be here. This team has proven over the decades to be a winner, one of the best in sports, and that's what this organization plans to do. I'm committed to it."
But Celtic green isn't the only thing on his mind. Allen is making $19.8 million this year and there's an almost definite chance that the guard won't be making nearly that much as a 35-year-old in the 2010-11 season.
"I think at this point, what I'm making now — I've made a great living throughout my career," said Allen, who is making $19.8 million this season in the final year of a five-year, $80 million extension he signed in Seattle. "I know, going into next year, whatever I sign, it won't be the money I'm making now. I know that."
