Miami Heat guard Ray Allen has exercised his player option for the 2013-14 season and will not become a free agent, his agent, Jim Tanner, told USA TODAY Sports.
Allen is scheduled to make $3.2 million next season, but there was the possibility Allen might opt out of the final year of his Heat deal only to sign a slightly more lucrative deal with the team. The Heat confirmed Allen exercised his option.
After the Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, Allen said he "would love to" come back for another season.
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Allen wasn't sure what to expect when he joined Miami in 2012-2013 after leaving the Boston Celtics. But he fit in almost immediately and became close with Heat star LeBron James. The two talked often after practice and competed against each other whether it was cards or to see who ran wind sprints the fastest.
Allen appreciated that James sought out Allen's advice and knowledge. During the playoffs, Allen told USA TODAY Sports: "He was just probably the most dominant player that I played with. Every game, he's ready to play. I haven't seen him play one bad game this year. He may have had games where he didn't shoot the ball the way he would have liked. If you look at his numbers, that's pretty much what he did all year and was unstoppable. Everybody followed suit. He plays with such a motor that everybody had to play at that level.
"He's just an incredible student of the game. He pays attention to everything. He remembers things from previous games. We may have played a team two months ago and he will remember a defensive coverage, and he's got an incredible IQ where he keeps everybody alert."
After Game 7 of the Finals, Allen said, "It's his ability to want to get better and his ability to learn, his ability to adapt to situation. He wanted to learn everything I knew. He always asked me questions about why I do certain things and what they meant. A player of his caliber, I had not been used to that. I'd like to say we competed toe-to-toe a lot this year — off the court, on the court."
Coming off the bench for the first time in his career, Allen averaged 10.9 points a game and shot 41.9% on three-pointers last season. His three-pointer in Game 6 of the Finals completed a huge Heat comeback to force the game into overtime, where Miami beat the Spurs and staved off elimination. Afterward, he said it might have been the biggest shot of his career.
The NBA's all-time three-point leader averaged 11.4 points on 44.6% three-point shooting in 63 Heat regular-season wins to 8.9 on 29.5% in 16 losses (and missed three games). He previously won a championship with the Celtics as part of a now-dissolved star trio alongside Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.
The 37-year-old is fifth behind Kobe Bryant, Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki and Pierce among active players with 23,804 career points.
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