They may not have seen eye to eye when they were master and pupil in Milwaukee, but this seems to be in the past with Ray Allen saying he is open to playing for new Denver coach George Karl, Allen's coach with the Bucks, the Rocky Mountain News is reporting.

"When the time comes it, if it comes to that, definitely I wouldn't turn that down," Allen said. "I can look at it and try to figure out if that will be best for my career, if it's going to be a good situation. I wouldn't say 'no' because George is the coach because I have nothing against George."

Karl on Friday night again seemed ready to make amends. "I can't deny that toward the end of our time in Milwaukee things started to turn south," he said.

"And looking back, a lot of those problems were probably caused by some of the decisions I made. But as far as a basketball player, Ray Allen was always first-class."

Allen, traded to Seattle during the 2002 season for Gary Payton, said he suffered from Karl's comparisons of him to Payton.

"One of the ways we went wrong is (Karl) always wanted Gary Payton for the organization in Milwaukee," Allen said. "When he talked about things, he wanted me to do better, it was almost like he wanted me to be Gary Payton."

The Nuggets could have about $7 million in salary cap room after the season.