Stevens Has Big Plans for David Lee

The Boston Celtics may have pulled off the greatest contract dump of all time. The team desperately wanted to get Gerald Wallace‘s outrageous contract off the books and they managed to rid themselves of him and acquire David Lee at the same time. The Warriors had similar intentions with Lee as they were no longer interested in his massive contract.

The problem for the Warriors was they had no space for Lee. With Andrew Bogut and Draymond Green stepping up they were wasting a tremendous amount of cap space on a bench player. Lee struggled to stay healthy and many believed he was too far out of his prime to have value on an immensely talented Warriors team.

Dec 15, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut (12) in congratulated by teammates forward David Lee (10), guard Klay Thompson (11), forward Draymond Green (23) and guard Stephen Curry (30) in the second half of the game against the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center. The Suns defeated the Warriors 106-102. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports

The Celtics, on the other hand, are in a much different situation. Not only do they have more than enough cap space for Lee’s contract, but they are in a situation where they could use his talent.

The Celtics also acquired another power forward in Amir Johnson this offseason, they drafted Jordan Mickey and they already had Jared Sullinger and Jonas Jerebko. The Celtics may not have needed a power forward in particular, but it appears as though the they will find many ways to use David Lee.

Brad Stevens brought back the term “point-forward” and had much more to say about using Lee.

"The old term point-forward probably applies to him with how we want to play, especially if he’s playing when Isaiah not in, in those types of situations, because I think he’s a guy you can play through, he’s a guy that plays with the ball in the middle of the floor. He’s played in spacing systems before. The game comes pretty easy passing the ball"

Stevens is saying multiple things to get excited about with Lee. First of all, this should stop any debate as to whether or not Lee will have a significant role on the team. With so much youth surrounding him, Stevens will take advantage of a trusted veteran and even if he is a forward, he will be a primary ball handler.

June 14, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward David Lee (10) moves the ball against the defense of Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson (13) in the first half in game five of the NBA Finals. at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Stevens brought up the most important aspect of his game and that is passing. The Celtics have many bigs that are dynamic offense threats. Jerebko, Sullinger and Olynyk will stretch the floor, Tyler Zeller is incredible in the mid range game and Amir Johnson is as reliable as anybody in the paint.

Lee may not have as much of an impact scoring but he may have the biggest impact passing the ball. The Celtics get the majority of their offense through ball movement and they need someone they can trust to be creating open looks for his teammates.

The Celtics may also have issues with players that are not quite comfortable in their system. Stevens also touches upon this with Lee and there is no doubting that his time with the Warriors, who had the best offensive system in the NBA, will give him an advantage on the Celtics.

Lee never had staggering assist numbers while with the Warriors but that does not take anything away from his effectiveness. Lee has 5 different seasons with an assist percentage above 13%. Sullinger has only eclipsed that mark one time in his short career and Johnson only reached that mark in his rookie campaign.

Lee may be a new addition who is on the decline but the level of comfort he can establish with Stevens will go a long ways. Lee may not be as prolific of a scorer but he may be the most important big to the offense. Lee will be tasked with creating for his talented teammates and if he can be an effective ball handler then Stevens will continue to give him significant minutes.

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