Celtics trade for David Lee

[LarBrd33]

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.

[fairweatherfan]

Bottle rockets!

[quidinqui33]

Just popped up:

Marc Stein @ESPNSteinLine

ESPN sources say that the Boston Celtics have agreed to trade for David Lee 6m

Will try to grab some more specifics.

Please merge this with the other thread or delete.  Just saw that another similar topic was just posted.

[CelticSooner]

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.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I absolutely  HATE  this move unless we bump the Nets out of the playoffs.  Then I'm okay with it.  Also I like that he's an expiring and Amir's contract is just a $12 million trade piece that can be immediately waived next year, which is perfect for trades.  But man I was kind of hoping we'd just get the 8th or 9th worst record.

[slamtheking]

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. 

if Johnson and Zeller are our rotation at center, Lee's going to have to squeeze in minutes with KO and Sully which won't be much for someone.  Mickey will be lucky to get off the bench at all this season -- going to need a volunteer to console Triboy

[PhoSita]

The lesson for this summer:

The Celts care more than we thought about maintaining a respectable win total.  Once they made the playoffs, they weren't going back to tanking.

Ainge love, love, loves big expiring contracts and guys he can potentially flip for a pick six months down the road.  Never passes up that opportunity.

[D.o.s.]

brb finding a golden gate bridge to jump off of.

[sed522002]

Bottle rockets!

That looks like a flaming pile of....never mind 

[Boris Badenov]

Danny: "Brad, how would you feel if I told you I just traded for the highest-paid player on the team that just won the NBA championship?"

Stevens: "Awesome!....hey hang on a second, let me look at their salary roster...."

Danny: "Sure thing. So what do you think?...hello? Brad are you still there?"

[Scintan]

Mr. Lee, I suggest that you rent, don't buy.

[jbpats]

dumb move in my opinion.
As i stated in the blog both players are well past their prime, I don't see Lee contributing to any additional wins.
Wallace was turning into a great mentor/coach to the young guys.. It was clear they listened to what he had to say. That alone makes me feel that Wallace is worth more than Lee to this team at this point.

[PhoSita]

brb finding a golden gate bridge to jump off of.

What, aren't you excited for our starting duo of 6'9'' 28-30 year old veterans in the frontcourt?

This is how you rebuild.


In all seriousness, I can't complain about the deal because at least Ainge is trying to acquire future assets.  This makes a lot more sense than signing Amir, even if it will solidify the Celts as a playoff also-ran with no shot at a top 10 pick.

[TheTruthFot18]

Hm interesting.

At first when I saw this post I thought this was a "trade idea", but it's actually for reals.

Exactly my thought. Not bad, I always liked Lee in the same way I did Wallace. Overpaid but solid.

Hope we didn't lose any valuable picks or young guys to even it out.

[sed522002]

Ken Berger ?@KBergCBS  4m4 minutes ago
No other components involved in David Lee-Gerald Wallace trade between Golden State and Boston, source says. Straight-up deal.