Sonics guard Ray Allen will become a free agent for the first time in his career on July 1 and since he moved around a lot in a military family when he was younger, Allen could just as easily back his bags and leave Seattle.

"I can pack up easy because I've been doing that my whole life," he said last Friday while leaving the team's practice facility for perhaps the last time. "You get your stuff, somebody packs it for you and you go. Do I want to do that? No.

"Jason Kidd told me, the one reason he signed back in New Jersey is because he did not want to pack his house up. ... It's just one small little thing that we laugh about, but you do take those things in consideration. You have to worry about school systems and moving your whole life."

Contract talks between the two sides got to within $5 million when they broke off in February.

"It's been my position all along not to talk about what's going on there and leave that to Lon and Rick," Allen said. "Were we close? Hmmm. I don't know. What's close? ... A deal isn't a deal until it's done. So maybe we were close on some things and not on others.

"I've said from the start, it's my intention to be here and stay here and build here. I thought we'd have something done by now. I thought it would get done before the season and (in February). Now I'm just waiting to see what happens."