(Ray) Allen, 37, rejected a two-year, $12 million offer from Boston to sign a three-year contract worth about $9 million with the champs. It was an awkward ending, Allen appearing to be unhappy with his role with the Celtics, who were eliminated by Miami in a tough playoff series.

“I was a free agent,” he said, “and I had to make a decision I definitely thought was best for me to move forward. I’m excited about where I’m going. … I don’t know what to expect, but I know what I expect from myself.”

Allen said his ankle is now about 75 to 80 percent healthy, and he expects to be 100 percent when training camp starts next month. The Heat will open the season against the Celtics.

“I look at the guys I played with five years,” he said. “I played seven years with the Bucks and four with Seattle, so at some point you’re always going to have ex-teammates. But winning [a championship] with the guys in Boston, I have a bond with them. It’s going to be a special game, though I am not an emotional person.”

via Dom Amore of the Hartford Courant