MIAMI – Ray Allen will take less money for a chance at another NBA championship.
Allen told the Miami Heat on Friday night that he intends to accept their contract offer and leave Boston after five seasons, even though the Celtics could pay him about twice as much as the reigning NBA champions will be able to next season.
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Miami could only offer Allen the mini mid-level, worth about $3 million a year.
The Heat owner, Micky Arison, tweeted the news just after 9:30 p.m. — or about 2:30 a.m. today in Europe, where Arison has been for several days.
“I was just woken up with great news,” Arison wrote. “Welcome to the family.”
Arison ended the tweet by making mention of Allen’s jersey No. 20, and didn’t mention the NBA’s leading 3-point shooter by name.
A person briefed on details of the decision told The Associated Press that Arison got the word from the Heat president, Pat Riley, who made Allen the team’s top free-agent priority, especially in recent days.
Allen, who will be 37 this month, arrived in Miami on Thursday for a visit, went to dinner with Riley; Coach Erik Spoelstra; a team executive, Alonzo Mourning; and others Thursday night, then left Friday to presumably decide his future.
Hours later the choice was made. Allen’s agent, James Tanner, confirmed the decision not long after Arison’s tweet.
Allen cannot officially sign until Wednesday because of the league’s moratorium.
Allen becomes the latest player to be sold by Riley on the notion of sacrifice since the blockbuster summer of 2010.
The Heat convinced LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all to take less money than they could have made elsewhere in that offseason, so there would be enough room left to add players like Udonis Haslem, Mario Chalmers and Mike Miller.
Then last summer, Shane Battier accepted a deal that will pay him $3 million annually.
The approach clearly worked. Next fall the Heat will raise a championship banner, and Allen will be with them for the title defense.
“HeatNation continues to grow,” Wade wrote on Twitter late Friday night.
Wade and James both were involved on some level in the recruitment of Allen. James took to Twitter and Facebook in recent days to let his millions of followers know how much he wanted to see Allen in a Heat uniform, and Wade tweeted Wednesday that the next day — the one where Allen was visiting — would be a big one for the franchise.
In the end it appeared that the biggest push — again — came from Riley, who said before free agency started that Miami had identified “five or six” clear targets to add to the roster.
He never specifically said Allen, and given how James was letting the secret out, Riley didn’t have to say anything else.
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