New York Knicks: Pros And Cons Of Pursuing Ray Allen

Super fan Spike Lee is recruiting Ray Allen to the New York Knicks. Should Phil Jackson push to get a deal done with the all-time 3-point shooting king?

It’s not hyperbolic when one claims that the New York Knicks are tied to every available free agent. The rumor mill seems to run directly out of New York, as free agents and trade targets become attached to the Knicks in countless ways.

The latest player to be linked to the Knicks may be the most surprising in franchise history: all-time 3-point king Ray Allen.

This is less of a rumor and more of a concrete desire to bring Allen to New York—just not yet from the organization. Instead of Phil Jackson, it’s film director Spike Lee who’s recruiting Allen to New York.

According to Dom Amore of The Hartford Courant, Lee has been texting Allen in an attempt to persuade him to play for the Knicks.

"“Spike Lee has been trying to recruit me,” Allen said. “We’ve been texting.”"

All hands on deck.

Allen and Lee have a relationship that dates back to the 1990s. Lee directed the classic basketball film He Got Game, which starred Allen as Jesus Shuttlesworth and Denzel Washington as his father, Jake Shuttlesworth.

There’s no telling just how influential a figure Lee is in Allen’s mind and life, but the recruitment is transpiring.

The obvious question is: should Jackson and Steve Mills move forward with the pursuit of Allen’s services? It would certainly be an unconventional use of the 15th and final roster spot, but that doesn’t necessarily make it the wrong move.

It’s time to get down to the bottom of it: should the Knicks make a run at signing Allen?

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