Miami Heat Rumors: Breaking Down How Ray Allen Would Mesh with LeBron James

ESPN's Chris Broussard is reporting that Ray Allen is scheduled to meet with the Miami Heat on Thursday and with the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday.

LeBron James looks like he's already on board with the idea of having Allen's talents down in South Beach. He even went as far as posting this photoshopped picture of Allen in a Miami Heat No. 20 jersey on his Facebook page.

There's a big difference, though, between what the Heat will want of him and what the Clippers will want of him.

The Clippers will want Allen to be a more active part of their offense. Without the talent of the Big Three, the Clippers will most likely need Allen to start at the shooting guard position, and with his age and his most recent injuries, that could be too much for his soon-to-be 37-year-old body to handle.

The Heat, on the other hand, won't be looking for more than solid bench production from Allen, and at this point in his career, that's where he can thrive.

Sure, the Heat could sign Allen and insert him into an interesting starting lineup that would have Mario Chalmers at the point, Ray Allen at the shooting guard position, Dwyane Wade on the wing, LeBron James at the power forward spot and Chris Bosh in the paint—but I don't see that happening.

The best part of a potential pairing of Allen and the Heat is that the way Allen plays doesn't impede on the way that any of the Heat's star players approach the game, including LeBron.

LeBron and Allen could co-exist in South Beach with ease, because the Heat don't need Allen to be an aggressive player.

They would need Allen to do what he does best, which is play the game as a spot-up shooter.

Much like Mike Miller and Shane Battier did throughout the Heat's dominant postseason run, the Heat would need Allen to stay on the perimeter and find open space in the defense so that LeBron and Wade could kick the ball out to him for open three-point shots.

Adding Allen wouldn't make the Heat a Big Four, because they don't need another player to come in and try to be a star. Adding Allen would just make the Heat a deeper team on the bench, and that would go a long way in making Miami an even more dangerous team than it was this past season.

Allen meshing with LeBron wouldn't be an issue at all because both players understand their roles within the team, and that's at the foundation of what makes Allen potentially signing with the Heat such a great move.

If Allen still wants to prove that he's capable of being a productive starter in the NBA, then he should look elsewhere and sign with a team not named the Miami Heat.

If Allen is interested in playing for one more NBA title, in a system where he can thrive and remain healthy, then signing with the Heat is exactly what he needs to do.