I've been thinking about this.

When Lee's contract is up, what's he going to get?

Is it going to be Bruce Bowen = perennial MLE candidate, is it going to be Carlos Boozer = Hot damn, where's my yacht!

Personally, if I had a team with a real star on it, and a chance of competing, I would give him Mo T money ie $8-10m.

What do you guys think?

Depends on who's making the offer.
I could see him making between 5-8M a year.

The real question is whos gunna make most out of the 3 sophmores?

Does anyone think he can play at this level for long?

Personally, I wouldn't want him past 28.

His game is energy, hustle.

At some point, he'll loose a step, slow down.

His just like Jerome 'Junk Yard Dog' Williams-

Same goes for Nate- he won't last.

Nothing like Junk Yard dog.....why because he has energy

1. He is bigger, he has post moves around the basket
2. Great first step going baseline and can dunk from anywhere on the court
3. He is a better rebounder and has a nose for the ball, top 5 rebounder in the league
4. He can pass the ball and facilitate and offense

Most Importantly
5. He is going to develop a jumper, his touch is improving and he will work on his game, he was a McDonalds All American something that Williams was not, and he is more crafty, he is going to be a great player....

If you played him 35 minutes your looking at 15pts 12rbs not many players in the NBA can do that

This question will be answered in 3 years....thats a long time

Why can't you compare Lee to Jerome because of his work ethic? JYD was one of the hardest working players in the league. He was a great rebounder, especially earlier in his career, and he was effective up untill the Knicks made him retire. I still don't understand why. He was doing great for us the year he retired.

Lee upside over JYD is his overall talent level, he seems to have more innate ability. But saying that JYD had less of a work ethic than Lee is simply not true.

If Lee develops a reliable midrange jumper, and continues to box out his man on regualr basis, he will stick around for a while, simply because he would give you a skilled big man with an outside touch who brings it every game. I mean Oak never jumped and that did not hurt him.

Look at a guy like Camby, early on you would never think he would last as long as he did. But he has adjusted his game, stuck to what he does well, and that is rebound and block shots, and he is still a solid starting center, despite not doing all the crazy stuff he used to do ealier in his career.

In my opinion Lee will develop into a nice complementary journeyman big who will go from team to team which is looking to add that final peace for a title run.

i agree w/fish... JYD was 1 of my favorite Knicks since he got here... i think Lee & him are very comparable in terms of the energy & enthusiasm w/which they play... Lee has shown to be a better passer & have better overall basketball skills than JYD, but their demeanor on the floor is very similar.

at first i thought Balkman was a good JYD comparison, but he's alot more laid back on the floor & not nearly as expressive as JYD & Lee are.

I also think Lee will only improve as tim e goes on. His improvement on free throw shooting from this year from the last demonstrates both his ability and desire to fix holes in his game. Hopefully we can resign him to Jerome James money.

Posted by King1:

I see one comparison to JYD and Lee. They both played hard. Lee is real physical like the other guys and his body doesnt get beat up. He isnt throwing people around and wrestling a lot in the post. He is using position and his brain. I think Lee will get better as the years go by because his game will evolve and get better.

I think thats all we are saying.

But you know this is a league of adjustments, and pretty soon word will get out to start sticking a body on this guy. You also know that people will start to test him physically. Hit him. Grab him. Push him around. Sure it will send him to the line but teams will try to knock him around and try to make him think twice about doing what he does.

Your right, he's smart. We can debate all day how good he will be. Its doesnt matter. What does is FOR ONCE we have a guy thats earned a chance to start and/or at least get starters minutes. There is no debate. Right now Lee is out best frontcourt player.

Posted by King1:

I see one comparison to JYD and Lee. They both played hard. Lee is real physical like the other guys and his body doesnt get beat up. He isnt throwing people around and wrestling a lot in the post. He is using position and his brain. I think Lee will get better as the years go by because his game will evolve and get better.

exactly - lee is not bangin and bruisin very often... I dont see him as being highly injury prone and honestly - while he can jump pretty high.. I dont see him being slowed by an injury very much cuz his game in INSTINCT not as much athleticism... And as he gets older i will garuntee he gets better look at how much he improved in just one year


[Edited by - Elite on 22-11-2006 04:35 AM]