Timberwolves Free Agency: Memphis Grizzlies Edition

Tony Allen

Shockingly, Tony Allen was also 35 years old this past season. The former Boston Celtic just completed his seventh season in Memphis, but saw his overall production and play remain right in line with what Grizzlies fans have come to expect from the 6′-4″ shooting guard.

Allen has been a fantastic defender for his entire career, and other than a small spike over the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, he’s been an equally bad long-range shooter. In every other season in Allen’s career between Boston and Memphis, he has shot three-pointers at well below a league-average clip, but he shot 35.2 percent over the aforementioned campaigns.

Setting offense aside, Allen can still play effective one-on-one defense. Of course, the individual aspect could certainly fall off a cliff at any time, he will surely be a solid team defender for another couple of seasons at least.

If we’re to boil down the two biggest needs that the Timberwolves have heading into this off-season into a couple of general categories, they would be defense and long-range shooting. Allen would shore up the Wolves’ team defense in a hurry, and, similar to Zach Randolph on the previous slide, add an element of toughness and grit to a squad that is sorely lacking such characteristics.

He won’t bring long-range shooting, and it would be tough for Tom Thibodeau to crowd his back court with too many non-shooters. While Ricky Rubio has improved and no doubt will continue to work on his three-point shot, Kris Dunn isn’t currently a threat, either, and Allen would bring more of the same.

Verdict: Tony Allen would have been a great fit if the Wolves weren’t already in a tough spot with both Dunn and Rubio needing minutes in the back court. Add in a returning Zach LaVine, and there wouldn’t be a lot of minutes for Allen that would fit the Wolves’ existing personnel. If Dunn or Rubio weren’t on the roster, this could potentially be an intriguing match for Thibodeau and Co.