I continue this weeklong roster breakdown series with a look at the Grizzlies’ most unsettled position.
- LARRY KUZNIEWSKI
- Tony Allen
Tony Allen
Regular Season: 20.8 mpg, 8.9 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.79 spg, .61 bpg, 1.2 tpg, 18.4 PER, 51fg%, 75ft%, 17 3p% (.3 att)
Playoffs: 26.9 mpg, 8.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.92 spg, .38 bpg, 1.8 tpg, 10.8 PER, 43fg%, 66ft%, 14 3p% (.5 att)
Age: 29
Contract Status: $3.2 million in second year of three-year deal.
Tony Allen had the best year of his career in his seventh season, at age 28. Has he reached a new plateau he can maintain in the remaining two years of his current contract with the Grizzlies or did we just witness a classic fluke season?
Last season, Allen notched a career-high steal rate — in fact, the highest steal rate in the NBA in nearly 20 years. And that’s only Exhibit A for Allen’s defensive brilliance last season. Fans witnessed Allen’s virtuoso balance of aggression and containment, pressuring defenders and going for steals but still recovering to stop drives. They saw Allen routinely defend with such energy and awareness that he seemed to be guarding the entire other team. They saw him have crucial, shutdown defensive possessions on players ranging from the 6’0″ Chris Paul to the 6’10” Kevin Durant.
Further, Allen had a catalytic impact on the entire team defense, as the Grizzlies improved from seventh to first in steals per game, from 17th to first in opponent turnovers, and, most impressively, from 23rd to eighth in overall defensive efficiency.
Pair Allen’s defensive dynamism with a career-low turnover rate and shooting percentages from the floor and line higher than his career norms, and Allen was an extremely efficient and impactful player.
