Is David Lee the Best Free Agent Acquisition?
The overwhelming majority of free agent discussion in the National Basketball Association is centred on the future locations of LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade. Teams have been focusing entirely on signing any available combination of that trifecta, and extremely valuable free agents like David Lee have been overlooked.
While no one would foolishly argue that individually David Lee is just as good as Lebron James, Lee is still one of the best members of this free agency class.
Lee’s current team, the New York Knicks, have just signed former Suns power forward Ama’re Stoudemire to a five-year, $99.7 million contract. As Stoudemire and Lee play similar positions, it is unlikely that Lee will be playing home games at Madison Square Garden next season.
Another similar free agent to Lee is Carlos Boozer, and although Boozer is a more renowned player, David Lee is actually better and should be a serious consideration for many teams. Just what is it that makes Lee so good though?
Lee ranked third in efficiency in the NBA last season, behind LeBron and Kevin Durant, both of whom are superstars. People may think this is skewed by Lee playing under dynamic head coach Mike D’Antoni, but in reality the Knicks as a team were a below-average possession team.
This means Lee maintained a superstar level of efficiency on a struggling team that sacrificed any hopes of victory for a chance to participate in the “LeBron James sweepstakes.”
He also contributes a phenomenal amount of energy to any team he is on, in addition to his solid rebounding and continually improving skills. Lee’s jumper has become reliable out to 18 feet, with a shooting percentage of 47 percent from 15-18 feet last season. This makes Lee one of the League’s most useful pick-and-roll men. In general, Lee is also the best passer of the free-agent big men by a landslide.
Another benefit of Lee is his reliability. The University of Florida alum has averaged 74 games per season during his five year tenure with the Knicks, with 81 games in each of his last three. Lee’s only fault is his defensive abilities. Under Mike D’Antoni’s up-tempo total offence system, defence has not been Lee’s priority, but his work ethic hints that if put into a defensive system Lee would be willing and able to improve.
The Knicks are interested in making offers towards at least one other superstar player, and David Lee’s $10.5 million salary would be a burden on doing so. The ever popular sign-and-trade also will not work with Lee, as the only offers on the table involve the more expensive Al Jefferson of Minnesota and Monta Ellis of Golden State.
Lee is a unique combination of power, skills, and brains and it is criminal that he has been so overlooked in the free agent frenzy of 2010. Lee’s addition to any team will be relatively affordable, especially in comparison to fees sought by many other agents, and his contributions may be significantly greater.
Last season, Lee was actually a statistically better player than both Amar’e Stoudemire and Carlos Boozer. Neither of the two big men was able to average 20 points and 10 rebounds per game, a feat Lee accomplished with 20.2 ppg and 11.7 rpg.
The Knicks loss should become the gain of another team because signing Lee will bolster any offence in the League. Lee is also a likeable guy that has thus far not caused any sort of behavioural issues.
Overall, David Lee is perhaps the best big man free agent, yet for some bizarre reason people refuse to recognize him as such.
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