David Lee – A failed experiment for the Golden State Warriors: NBA Feature
To enhance rosters National Basketball Association teams acquire strong players from the free agency market. This hiring of the players involves lot of money but NBA teams don’t mind paying very high salaries to get their hands
on the best available talent in the free agency.
Golden State Warriors are not among the wealthy teams in the NBA, but still in the previous free agents market, the franchise paid a very high price to obtain the services of 28 years old centre of the New York Knicks, David Lee.
The Warriors were hoping that Lee could provide them the much needed support on the low post and in the paint.
However, even after spending a heavy budget on the Knicks big, who scored at an average of 20.2 points and 11.7 rebounds in the 2009-10 season, the Warriors didn’t get the dividends they were hoping for.
In his very first season with Golden State, Lee accounted for 16.5 points and 9.8 rebounds. Although, these numbers although look decent, but considering the fact that the Warriors do not have any other significant player to dominate
on the paint, one cannot help but criticize Lee’s efforts.
The Warriors had achieved a 44.4 rebound rate in the 2009-10 season – the lowest - and after Lee arrived at Golden State, they were able to improve it by just three points - 47.5 rebounds per game. That too was also at the bottom
of the ladder.
Apart from that, the Warriors also failed to reduce the points scoring average against them. Golden State gave away 108.8 points before Lee had landed and were considered as the worst defensive team in the league. However even
after Lee’s inclusion, things didn’t improve much and the Warriors failed to shed the poor defense tag, giving away 103.4 points per game in the previous season.
Lee’s arrival at Oakland franchise also affected his shooting from the floor. When at Knicks in the 09-10 season, he converted 0.545 percent shots from the field, but that dropped to 0.507 per night with the Warriors last season.
The most important attribute which was expected from Lee, once he was acquired, was that he will be able to form a leadership nucleus, around which players like Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry and Dorell Wright can perform. However,
as the season progressed, it was Monta Ellis, who took the lead and got the Warriors out of trouble, time and time again.
All in all, Lee failed to live up to the expectations that the Warriors had pinned on him and the fact that the Warriors have been in search a suitable big to power their defense is a testament to that fact.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not represent Bettor.com’s editorial policy.
Tags: