Brace Hemmelgarn-US Presswire
Tony Allen has been a welcome addition on the Memphis Grizzlies the past few years. He has developed his skills and has become a reliable perimeter defender. He is also a tough-as-nails player who is not afraid to do the dirty work. With that said, he is entering the final year of his contract and will be an unrestricted free agent by 2013. He seems to love the city of Memphis though and he believes that he will just let his game do the talking.
Allen is the type of player you absolutely need in your squad. He is a glue guy and his contributions far supersede that of the box score. He may not give you a whole lot of points, a whole lot of rebounds and so on, but it’s his tenacity and toughness that can really rub on the entire roster. He is also the type of player that can get into the other player’s skin. He’ll do whatever it takes to defend his guy and he will do it by poking, grabbing, pushing, taunting, whatever it takes to get his opponents out of their games. You can call it unsportsmanlike, you can call it “dirty”, but it’s these kinds of players that will be the difference between a win and a loss at the end of the day.
With that said, Allen should have no problems keeping his job in Memphis. As long as he finishes the season strong and continues to do what he does best, then Memphis should not hesitate to keep him beyond next season. If Memphis does decide to move in a different direction, I think Allen will have no problems finding an interested team elsewhere.
