Boston Celtics Acquire David Lee

It has finally happened, The Boston Celtics have managed to dump one of the most useless contracts in the NBA. The Celtics traded away Gerald Wallace and received David Lee in return. The Golden State Warriors were strictly interested in parting ways with Lee’s $15 million salary which is in fact larger than Wallace’s.

The Warriors are essentially getting nothing in return other than additional cap space. The Celtics are actually losing cap space in this deal but they are sending out someone who would never contribute and in return they are getting a solid rotation player and a potential starter.

While Wallace is far from his prime, Lee is fresh off of an all star appearance in 2013. Lee lost his role on the Warriors because of the defensive minded Andrew Bogut and the emergence of defensive player of the year runner up Draymond Green.

The good news for Lee is there is significantly less competition for him and the Celtics will do a better job of embracing the offensive nature of his game.

David Lee will be undersized at the power forward or center position but that works out great for when the Celtics go to small ball. Lee has the versatility to play multiple positions and with Brandon Bass now on the outs he has the most polished and established offensive game of any bigs on the Celtics.

Jun 11, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Golden State Warriors forward David Lee (10) shoots the ball against Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith (5) during the second quarter in game four of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Last season Lee’s minutes dropped under 30 per game for the first time in 7 seasons and everything saw a significant decline. If you take away last season and just look at before then, Lee may immediately be one of the best players on the Celtics.

No one on the Celtics came close to averaging 18 points and 9 rebounders and Lee has done that 5 times since the 2009-2010 season. Lee is a polished and efficient scorer and he can rebound the ball.

Lee will not get the same kind of 30+ minutes per game seasons but he will certainly be given enough of an opportunity to return to his prime. Lee will have little competition on the boards and he will have a great offensive system creating plenty of open looks for him. The numbers may not be as good but Lee could reach a career high in efficiency.

Lee’s offensive nature should allow for an easy transition with the Celtics and there is no doubting that Brad Stevens will find a way to properly utilize his talents.

Lee lacks the ability to extend beyond the three point line but he will do a great job anywhere else on the court. Lee will certainly lose minutes when Stevens is looking for three point shooting but when he needs anything else, Lee may already be the best option on the Celtics.

In his past 6 seasons Lee has only one campaign where he shot below 40% between 10 and 16 feet from the rim. Lee is a great offensive weapon and he will never be a liability when it comes to hitting his open shots. Even better news for him is the Celtics have no bigs that are on Green or Bogut’s level defensively.

Lee lost his starting position because of better defensive bigs and unless Jordan Mickey is able to excel immediately, Lee will be given all the opportunities he needs to prove to the league that he has returned to his all star form.

The Celtics found a way to dump their worst contract and even if they took on a bigger contract it brought along a player that should be featured in the rotation. Lee will have to prove that he can return to his all star form because of all the offensive bigs the Celtics have but if you go back just one season the Celtics do not have a big that currently on Lee’s level.

The Celtics snagged a great weapon in Lee and he could be a very exciting addition to the Celtics.

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