Celtics trade for David Lee

[kozlodoev]

I would love to see some prospective trades that work with Lee's contract that would not have worked with Wallace's deal, by the way. That is very interesting to me and, I assume, many other fans.

Ainge will trade Amir and Lee for Deron Williams and Joe Johnson.

We will have an entire roster of guards, the Nets will have nothing but bigs.  We all win.

Joe Johnson too tall... 

They'll move him to center

Precisely, I'm worried he may be an upgrade.

[gpap]

Wouldn't be surprised if Ainge just swapped one expiring contract for a larger one with the thought that maybe Lee can earn a starting spot, put up nice numbers, and convince a playoff team desperate for productive big men to trade for him mid-season.

This is my guess - the logic is that Lee offers on-court value on top of being an expiring deal, which will more than offset the added expense of the contract.

At a bare minimum I can just about guarantee David Lee is not part of our long- or medium-term plans.

Why don't we just worry about how Lee helps us for the upcoming season and not worry so much about the medium and long-term plans?  Why the tunnel vision on this site?

[hodgy03038]

So what's the return? I thought the C's were capped out? He'll be nice trade fodder during the season.

Why not just appreciate the player we got instead of already concluding that we are going to trade him?

Bingo. Good call gpap.

[gpap]

Nice!  Poor man's Kevin Love.  I like it. 

Lee is 32 but he can still play.  If the plan is to push firmly towards 45 wins, this is a win...  it muddles our already confusing power forward rotation, but I have to assume more shoes will eventually drop. 

Shame, because about 6 years ago I said that if David Lee played on Boston, the fans would compare him to Dave Cowens within two weeks.  He might be too old for anyone to make that comparison now.  Oh well.

Yup, this is a steal for the team. Nice pick up Danny (giving credit where credit is due.)

[LarBrd33]

Heh... are there people upset with this? 

He's 32 and he's a season removed from averaging 18 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2 assists as the 2nd best player on 50 win playoff team.

I actually can't remember ever seeing a situation like David Lee's this year.  He's arguably the 2nd or 3rd best player on the Warriors and yet they stuck him on the bench, because the team was rolling and chemistry was off-the-charts.   Lee isn't a good defender and he sacrificed a lot this season for the greater good... but he can clearly still play basketball.  At least Iggy got an opportunity to show his skillset in the FInals... Lee unfortunately had to remain on the bench.  Guy is a heck of a sport to let that happen.  Good for Golden State for finding him a new home instead of letting him rot on their bench.  He's a talented guy.  We should be happy to have him (if the intention is to make the playoffs).

 He's possibly the best player on the Celtics right now.  Like Wallace, he's an expiring contract.   There was literally no reason to NOT do this trade.   It's a total no-brainer.   It'll be interesting to see if Ainge addresses the PF jam this summer of if he just did this trade, because he'd be stupid not to.

[gpap]

Wouldn't be surprised if Ainge just swapped one expiring contract for a larger one with the thought that maybe Lee can earn a starting spot, put up nice numbers, and convince a playoff team desperate for productive big men to trade for him mid-season.

This is my guess - the logic is that Lee offers on-court value on top of being an expiring deal, which will more than offset the added expense of the contract.

At a bare minimum I can just about guarantee David Lee is not part of our long- or medium-term plans.

He'll be dumped before the deadline no doubt.

Why??!

We just picked up a good player and people are already thinking about when he's going to get traded. Don't get it.

[YeezusChrist]

So we're swapping:

* virtually identical contracts
* small for big
* someone who can't play for someone who can

This trade cannot be bad.

When he got 20+ minutes last season, Lee averaged 10 and 6. That's not too shabby.

... also, Tommy loves Lee... somewhat.

Okay perfect he gives KO numbers in those minutes and only gets his points by slowing down the offense with his back to the basket (that's why people hated the idea of signing Monroe) and can't stretch the floor aswell as him.

Hmmm yes this is a marvelous trade to add our 6th power forward to the roster

[crimson_stallion]

And so we are now one step closer to the sully trade I've been taking about...already picked up his replacement art the backup pf spot.

Now just have to wait...

[kozlodoev]

It'll be interesting to see if Ainge addresses the PF jam this summer of if he just did this trade, because he'd be stupid not to.

Move Sullinger and get us a real SF...

[PhoSita]

Heh... are there people upset with this? 

He's 32 and he's a season removed from averaging 18 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2 assists as the 2nd best player on a playoff team.

I actually can't remember ever seeing a situation like David Lee's this year.  He's arguably the 2nd or 3rd best player on the Warriors and yet they stuck him on the bench, because the team was rolling and chemistry was off-the-charts.   Lee isn't a good defender and he sacrificed a lot this season for the greater good... but he can clearly still play basketball.   He's possibly the best player on the Celtics right now.  Like Wallace, he's an expiring contract.   There was literally no reason to NOT do this trade.   It's a total no-brainer.   It'll be interesting to see if Ainge addresses the PF jam this summer of if he just did this trade, because he'd be stupid not to.

Mainly I'm just bitter that the team is full steam ahead on maintaining in the middle of the pack, and Ainge really seems to be placing all his cards on "Wait for a blockbuster trade opportunity" to the detriment of all other options.

Generally one hopes that as a rebuild advances the roster will become less cluttered with veterans and that a clearer picture will begin to take shape with respect to the pieces that will form the future core of the roster.

That's not happening here, at all.  Danny ain't about that life.

[gpap]

Heh... are there people upset with this? 

He's 32 and he's a season removed from averaging 18 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2 assists as the 2nd best player on a playoff team.

I actually can't remember ever seeing a situation like David Lee's this year.  He's arguably the 2nd or 3rd best player on the Warriors and yet they stuck him on the bench, because the team was rolling and chemistry was off-the-charts.   Lee isn't a good defender and he sacrificed a lot this season for the greater good... but he can clearly still play basketball.   He's possibly the best player on the Celtics right now.  Like Wallace, he's an expiring contract.   There was literally no reason to NOT do this trade.   It's a total no-brainer.   It'll be interesting to see if Ainge addresses the PF jam this summer of if he just did this trade, because he'd be stupid not to.

If people are upset with this move, then they have NO clue about basketball. We just got a 32 year old veteran who knows how to play the game.  If it's because they wanted to see Sully or Olynyk get the minutes, too freakin bad!!

[hodgy03038]

Heh... are there people upset with this? 

He's 32 and he's a season removed from averaging 18 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2 assists as the 2nd best player on a playoff team.

I actually can't remember ever seeing a situation like David Lee's this year.  He's arguably the 2nd or 3rd best player on the Warriors and yet they stuck him on the bench, because the team was rolling and chemistry was off-the-charts.   Lee isn't a good defender and he sacrificed a lot this season for the greater good... but he can clearly still play basketball.   He's possibly the best player on the Celtics right now.  Like Wallace, he's an expiring contract.   There was literally no reason to NOT do this trade.   It's a total no-brainer.   It'll be interesting to see if Ainge addresses the PF jam this summer of if he just did this trade, because he'd be stupid not to.

I agree and not only that there were 3 other teams interested that I heard: Lakers, Knicks & Clippers. Wouldn't the GMs on these forums be p---ed if one of those teams got him for basically nothing.

[fairweatherfan]

Wouldn't be surprised if Ainge just swapped one expiring contract for a larger one with the thought that maybe Lee can earn a starting spot, put up nice numbers, and convince a playoff team desperate for productive big men to trade for him mid-season.

This is my guess - the logic is that Lee offers on-court value on top of being an expiring deal, which will more than offset the added expense of the contract.

At a bare minimum I can just about guarantee David Lee is not part of our long- or medium-term plans.

Why don't we just worry about how Lee helps us for the upcoming season and not worry so much about the medium and long-term plans?  Why the tunnel vision on this site?

I can't speak for anyone else but I'm thinking about what Danny might be trying to accomplish in the longer run by making this deal, since it's unlikely he's expecting Lee to move us appreciably closer to contention.

If you're interested in discussing the trade from a different angle, well, be the posts you wish to see in the world.

[gpap]

Heh... are there people upset with this? 

He's 32 and he's a season removed from averaging 18 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2 assists as the 2nd best player on a playoff team.

I actually can't remember ever seeing a situation like David Lee's this year.  He's arguably the 2nd or 3rd best player on the Warriors and yet they stuck him on the bench, because the team was rolling and chemistry was off-the-charts.   Lee isn't a good defender and he sacrificed a lot this season for the greater good... but he can clearly still play basketball.   He's possibly the best player on the Celtics right now.  Like Wallace, he's an expiring contract.   There was literally no reason to NOT do this trade.   It's a total no-brainer.   It'll be interesting to see if Ainge addresses the PF jam this summer of if he just did this trade, because he'd be stupid not to.

Mainly I'm just bitter that the team is full steam ahead on maintaining in the middle of the pack, and Ainge really seems to be placing all his cards on "Wait for a blockbuster trade opportunity" to the detriment of all other options.

At the detriment of what?

We just acquired a really good player. There's no detriment involved when you win a trade which we just did.

[PhoSita]

This team is in the midst of a rebuild and so I'm gonna go ahead and assess every move based on what it does for the team long term, big picture.

Gunning for a repeat trip to the bottom of the playoffs isn't a bad thing in and of itself but it doesn't really excite me any.