Jan 06 2009
Knicks could ship out Lee
So I saw a report on SNY today that says David Lee could be on his way out of NY. How could this be? David Lee is the heart and soul of this NY Knicks team, and is certainly a fan favorite, due to his tremendous hustle and hard working mentality. How could the Knicks send him out? I did a little research and found out some of the finer points for the reasons why.
Lee is set to become an restricted free agent at the end of this season. What that means is this. The Knick could first make him a qualifying offer, which essentially is just the minimum amount they will be required to make him in order to keep him. If he declines it, he becomes an restricted free agent, and will be allowed to talk to other teams. If another team makes him an offer, the Knicks will have the opportunity to match the offer.
The issue here is there are a couple of teams that may be interested in Lee, including Portland and Utah. They will probably offer Lee a contract in the $9-$10 million dollar range, which is more than the Knicks want to pay for an undersized PF/C/6th man, especially since they are trying to clear cap room for 2010.
One of the rumored trades for Lee would include brining Marcus Camby back to NY, from the LA Clippers. Here is why the Knicks would LOVE this deal. Camby would give the Knicks a dominant Defensive Center who can block shots and get rebounds, and possibly score 10-15 pts a game. He also comes along with a big money contract which convenintly expires before the 2010 season. This would clear more cap room for LBJ, Wade, Bosh, etc.
It seems more and more likely that the Knicks are going to be one of the biggest front runners to bring in a big name free agent in 2010, however what would kill the Knicks is if they don’t end up pulling in any of the big names in 2010. A 3 year endevor would be all for not. But we have a long time to see if that happens.
In the meantime, myself along with many Knicks fans, would hate to see Lee go, but since he may leave during the off season anyway, at least the Knicks should try and get something in return. Say bye to David, because this is going to happen sooner rather than later.
