David Lee complaining about minutes

[Eja117]

D Lee and Amir have not been the upgrades they were supposed to be. But especially not Lee

Are you watching the games? Amir has been pretty good. Certainly an upgrade over Bass, and I liked bass' game too.

Do you guys realize how foolish waiving Lee would be?
1. He's not really complaining. Saying you want to keep trying and get more minutes is not really complaining.
2. If we waived him and at the deadline there was a deal to trade picks for Melo or DMC or Durrant we would then have to trade Amir to make the numbers work and Amir is really helping us win.
3. If we waive Lee and 2 or 3 bigs get hurt we would be in trouble.

Saying Amir is an upgrade over Bass isn't exactly setting the bar real high

[Csfan1984]

I would limit his PT unless he has a great matchup. Let him play against weak competition for his max minutes when ever possible to build up his trade value.

Lee has no trade value as a contributor. He's not going to have any trade value as a contributor. He's simply not the player he once was. His value is in leadership and as a potential salary filler in a bigger deal. That's it.

Why do people think that he was traded and is supposed to be a serious piece to this team? For cryin' out loud, we got him for Gerald Wallace! The Warriors moved him so they could save huge dollars (more than $20m) on their tax penalty and in return the Cs got a marginally better player.

Most know he won't get you much but the plan was to build his value. It's why C's themselves made him the starter at the beginning of the year. They were too aggressive to try and build him up though. I'm thinking we try more like warriors last year did as in keep his eff high by playing him in best position to succeed. A franchise can sell that eff/and the intangibles to its base if Lee is included in a deal for a bigger fish.

[sofutomygaha]

What's all this "he came here to play 25-30 minutes" stuff? Am I mistaken, or was he traded here straight up for Gerald Wallace? I'm sure he was given a chance to compete for those minutes, but he certainly knew there were other veteran bigs on the team.

[Evantime34]

Lee is getting the minutes he deserves. After reading these comments I think the C's will buy him out or deal him before the season is over.

His salary is good for matching purposes in a trade so I doubt we would buy him out without first testing the trade market.

I'd attach a first along with him to bring back a guy like Tyreke Evans

[Denis998]

He has had ample opportunity to prove himself on the parquet. All that he has shown so far this season is his inability to play in our system as well as probably any other team in the NBA. What I have seen so far, as opposed to the already his well known impact on the defensive level, Is his inability to be even a threat on the offensive side of the floor. As soon as he checks into the game, he seems to always have a turnover right off of the bat. He also has lost the ability to finish at the rim, seems like its once in a blue moon that he actually converts at that end. As of right now he is the worst player on our team, and yes I am still aware that James Young is on the team (I still think he has potential). What I feel Brad should do is give him the Wallace treatment, or better yet the Bogans treatment where he is just told to stay at home for the season. That was DA can cash him in on the trade deadline for like a pick or something.

[LarBrd33]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/12/05/david-lee-longs-for-more-playing-time/5TVBd8JKcOcD2zX8506U1K/story.html?event=event25

"I don’t accept [it], it’s very frustrating, and the moment you start to accept it is when [you’ve] kind of stopped trying," Lee said. "While Coach [Brad Stevens] can make any decision whom he wants to start or bring off the bench, my goal is to be a guy who’s playing 20, 25 minutes, and I’ve had a meeting with Coach and told him that."

THe thing is, David Lee might actually be right.  We have 7 decent PF's on this team and he's one of them.  There's not enough minutes to go around.   They need to make a trade at some point.

Lee is a former all-star player and his Per-36 numbers are about even with what he's always done:  15.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1 steal 51% shooting and 76% from the line.

He was averaging his typical 18 and 9 in 2014.  He got injured last season and when he came back the team was dominating...  Draymond Green seemed to fit perfectly with what Golden State was doing and it didn't make any sense for the Warriors to change what seemed to be working.  They looked like a championship team.  Turns out, they were.  If it aint broke, don't fix it... so Lee saw his minutes cut in half. 

Then Golden State does him a solid this year and lets him join a team that seemingly could use him.   It's unfair to ask a borderline star big to play spot minutes in the final couple years of his peak.   So he ends up in Boston... all signs pointed to him starting.   Unfortunately, he struggled out of the gate, one of the other 7 power forwards stepped up... and now he's on the outside looking in despite the fact that he's had multiple games this year where he played pretty [dang] well in limited minutes. 

Thing is, I think someone showed some advanced stats that showed that our defense was much better when he wasn't in the game.  So despite the fact he's still probably capable of 18 and 9, he's unlikely to rejoin the starting lineup.   WE aren't anywhere near as good as Golden State was last year, but it seems Lee will not get his desired (and possibly deserved) role here for some of the same reasons.  I think there are a lot of teams in this league he'd start for.  We need to hang onto him until the trade deadline, because his contract could be crucial in a blockbuster trade... also, he might end up back in the starting lineup if injuries hit us.  But after the deadline, I wouldn't be too surprised to see Lee bought out so he can join a team that can use him.

[Csfan1984]

Lee is getting the minutes he deserves. After reading these comments I think the C's will buy him out or deal him before the season is over.

His salary is good for matching purposes in a trade so I doubt we would buy him out without first testing the trade market.

I'd attach a first along with him to bring back a guy like Tyreke Evans

I don't like the idea of Evans but you are right to explore trade options. Lee is still an expiring deal. What if Houston wants to unload Lawson to us and we get Dekker as well for Lee. It reopens big cap space for Rockets in offseason. A deal like that may be out there for Lee.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Selfish brat. Last season doesn't say anything.

I thought he was a pro. Just a brat. Danny will trade or waive him. Not acceptable

If you want mins, you need to produce

Except his producing.

His Per 36 numbers this year is on par with his career averages, and is as close to Kelly's, except Lee is more efficient shooting wise.

He did have a bad start, but his numbers are consistent with what he really is, a good scorer from the PF spot and a good rebounder. Good passer for his position. He doesn't have to start, sure, as his defensive woes doesn't bode well for the team. But clearly he can average more than 18 minutes per game with this team, because offensively, he still has a lot to offer.

And selfish is something I wont label to someone who made the ultimate sacrifice for his former team to win a Championship.

[Snakehead]

It's not that Lee hasn't played pretty well at times on the floor but he really is screwing up the rotations and seems to have been a big mistake that way.  I think it's really a shame if Olynyk can only play 10-15 minutes a game with Lee getting his current time (which he is already unhappy with).  Plus the fact that our team plays best small many times.

Maybe his numbers are similar to Kelly's but Kelly provides legit three point shooting (which we need) and we need to be playing Olynyk to develop him.  This third year is big.

I hope we look to trade or ditch Lee for anything just to get rid of this issue.

Like I said he has moments on the floor but he isn't so good.  He plays a lot inside still and gets blocked a lot in a way where he shows his age.

And this is ignoring Zeller and Jerebko in a rotation as well (neither of which has played all that well but still).  I understand why players want to play and don't have a "oh stop being a cry baby" feeling about it.  I just hope we can get rid of the issue.

[Celtics18]

That is NOT complaining. All he is saying is that he will continue to put in full effort to be worthy of more minutes. Did you people actually read the full quote?

There is nothing wrong with what he said. Stevens would be happy with what he said. He wants all the player to have drive and to desire to do more for the team. Do you want him to just cash his check and be happy with a diminished role? Has he at any point shown that he is giving less effort or is being hard to coach?

Here is an earlier part of the article:

“That’s all I can do, is be ready to play 25, 30 but realize that’s not going to be the case most nights,” said Lee, who is averaging 6.9 points as a reserve. “I can choose to be frustrated by it or I can choose to make the most out of my time and make a positive contribution and find a way to do it in different ways.

“I don’t know where it’s going to be, but I know I’m going to be aggressive and I’m going to play with energy. That’s what I’m going to focus on.”

The OP is just trying to start trouble. Don't take the bait.

TP.  I was wondering if anyone else read the whole thing?

[Tr1boy]

Amir has been a legit upgrade over Bass.

[Tr1boy]

Honestly we would of been in a better position to have kept Wallace , pick ,not resign jerebko and have Zeller, mickey play some mins.  Increase min for KO also

[JSD]

I wonder if Lee, Jerebko, Turner and a couple 2nd rounders could get us in a conversation with the Nets for Joe Johnson. I think he is the perfect, go-to one year rental option for the playoffs move, that also compresses the roster.

[Granath]

I wonder if Lee, Jerebko, Turner and a couple 2nd rounders could get us in a conversation with the Nets for Joe Johnson. I think he is the perfect, go-to one year rental option for the playoffs move, that also compresses the roster.

WHAT?  Have you seen Joe Johnson play this year?

The guy couldn't crack the top 10 on the Celtics and that's straight up dead serious. This is a guy who doesn't play defense and whose eFG is .400. He's a liability on both ends of the court and by every quantifiable measurement Evan Turner is outplaying Johnson. In what universe would anyone in their right mind give up younger, better and more contract-friendly players for a 34 year old, washed up JJ?

[esel1000]

I wonder if Lee, Jerebko, Turner and a couple 2nd rounders could get us in a conversation with the Nets for Joe Johnson. I think he is the perfect, go-to one year rental option for the playoffs move, that also compresses the roster.

WHAT?  Have you seen Joe Johnson play this year?

The guy couldn't crack the top 10 on the Celtics and that's straight up dead serious. This is a guy who doesn't play defense and whose eFG is .400. He's a liability on both ends of the court and by every quantifiable measurement Evan Turner is outplaying Johnson. In what universe would anyone in their right mind give up younger, better and more contract-friendly players for a 34 year old, washed up JJ?

Yeah Joe is washed up with a capital W. He has no trade value. It's actually negative value since he'll probably be bought out