David Lee
Yea David Lee is one of the most undervalued guys in the NBA. Although I am not a huge Knicks fan, I'm from Long Island so I obviously see a lot of the games on MSG.
I remember Lee from way back.. when he was a McDonald's all-American.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78J091slHmQ
(video is not very good quality because its from 2001)
He had a solid career at Florida. He was always athletic but developed his body.
Lastly, he is getting only $1.7 million for averaging 16 pts and 12 rbs.
David Lee is a good player. How much do you think he is worth in terms of a contract? I just think that most teams don't want to pay much more than the MLE for a hustle/rebounding role-player, you know?
Some team will pick him up and be happy with him if New York gets rid of him.
He is worth whatever his next contract will be. The market dictates prices.
Don't forget about salary surprises in the NBA. (Wally Szczerbiak made $13 million this season... last year of contract).
Here's another good list:
http://thehoopdoctors.com/online2/2008/07/the-5-most-overpaid-players-in...
I'm as big a fan of Lee as anyone, but he has some serious limitations. I'd say he hits the offensive glass as well as anyone and his hands and passing ability are elite for his position, but he doesn't defend at all and he's a reluctant scorer. I do think he fits some other teams better than the Knicks actually (because he can't shoot well enough for a D'Antoni PF), but I'd keep him in NY for the MLE.
They mean nothing if you average 10 pts a game guys off the bench can average that. 10 rebs are obviously a lot better but the difference between 9 & 10 rebs means what. It would mean more for point guards because assists are so much more important. If Knicks were smart would've locked Lee up when they had the chance could've had him cheap and used him as trade bait too.
As a NYK fan, I completely agree. This man is a monster who could play in the NBA for another 10-12 seasons. He rebounds like crazy and has a excellent skill set for his age. I think the Knicks would be crazy to let this man go...he is a top 10 rebounder in this league.
Lee borderline all star?
Where in NBDL?
He is good role player and can get you a double double, that said doesn't make him a borderline all star.
He can be a teams 3rd option, but that in most cases doesn't make you an allstar.
That be said I think he deserves 8 million a year.
Lee's current value is only low because he is in his rookie contract. He will definitely be looking at a big pay raise with his next deal. While he is definitely never going to be a go to guy for a championship team, he could be a good 3rd or 4th guy on such a team, similar to Horace Grant was with the Bulls. The Bulls had Jordan as their best player, Pippen as the 2nd best, and Grant as 3rd best (over Bill Cartwright or BJ Armstrong). In their second run, they had Dennis Rodman as their 3rd best player. Of course not all teams would have a 1-2 punch as good as Jordan-Pippen, so a less talented team may have Lee as a 4th best player.
As for his contract it would depend on who offers. If he wants his money, he can get 10M on a bad team, but if he wants a title, he might have to give up some bucks and settle for 6-8 million to allow the team to get the requisite stars for him to support.
Lee only averages that many rebounds because there is NO ONE else on the Knicks who's even interested in rebounding. Curry would gladly let Lee take all the rebounds because he's a slob. Now Lee was playing center with Harrington who just wants to score.
Lee will not duplicate those numbers playing alongside a true center because they'll want to get some rebounds too! That said, he's a very good offensive rebounder but he needs to improve his defense.
David Lee is under-rated, for sure, but he's not worth 10m.
That doesn't mean he won't GET 10m, though. Emeka Okafor is getting 9.5M, so it's not impossible for David Lee to do the same. I mean, Eric Dampier gets 11.5.
You could say he doesn't deserve more than 6-8M, but then he'd just point at these guys.
David Lee is a terrific leaper, a fantastic rebounder, an excellent teammate, and virtually an automatic "double double"every night.
However, the subject matter has nothing to do with the NBA DRAFT. It belongs in the NBA or NY Knicks Forum.
I have seen people undervalue David Lee on alot of forums. Why is David Lee dissed so much. He isnt a "product of a system". How can he be. He put up numbers before D'Antoni. His numbers do lead to wins. Without his boards and second chance baskets, we wouldnt have won half the games we did. He is all hustle and has recently developed a solid 18 footer. He consistently plays bigger opponents and pulls down double-doubles almost every night. There isnt one team in the NBA that he wouldnt make better.