Quote:
Originally Posted by GermanStandard
Lee was supposed to be a 20/10 Player for Boston. Most Experts predicted 18-20 PPG and 8-10 RPG.
It just didnt work out and Lee was massively overrated because he played on a high IQ Team with Curry, Klay and Green who made him look better than he is.
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I don't want to make a big deal out of this because ultimately I don't think David Lee is going to have a big impact either this season or moving forward (I think he's too expensive to re-sign, and if we have the cap space it means we struck out on a bunch of guys and are going to be bad with or without Lee on our bench) but I don't think this is very accurate.
Lee was traded to the Celtics because he was an expiring contract. Any sort of on-court production he was going to give them would have been gravy. They clearly didn't have long-term plans for him and just picked him up as a positive locker room presence and as a way for the Warriors to clear some cap space (later flipping Gerald Wallace for Jason Thompson, I believe). Anyone that expected him to play 30+MPG on a rebuilding (albeit a good one) Celtics team was being pretty silly.
That said, though, when Lee was actually on the court for them he was pretty productive (and let's not forget that he looked pretty damn good in the Finals last summer the couple of games where he got real playing time... the Warriors obviously probably win it without him but he gave them a much-needed spark). He just wasn't really a fit there due to his age and the Celtics' lack of a true center or even a PF that could play the position for long stretches; when I looked at their roster this past summer I eyeballed Amir Johnson as someone that Lee would potentially have some success next to but that combination didn't see a ton of time together.
Now as we bring him in, I do feel like he is probably automatically the best backup PF we've had in at least 10 years, but with these reports/speculation that he's coming here to play center.... well, that's just another way that he's not being put in position to be successful and it isn't going to work out. Personally, I'd like to see him play about 12-15MPG as Dirk's primary backup, crashing the glass like a crazy man and making smart plays. I don't see him as a long-term fit here unless he comes on the very cheap (room exception or less), but I would definitely welcome him back here in that backup role for the next few years.
EDIT: FWIW, I think waiving Jenkins, who has been a productive shooter in the past and was on an insanely reasonable contract, over Charlie was pretty stupid. That said, if we offered Jenkins a similar three-year deal this summer I think we'd probably be able to bring him back so I'm not that bent out of shape about it. Just seems like a small thing that the team could have handled differently in terms of roster composition and the potential that I see in Jenkins that has obviously come and gone for Villanueva.