Posted by JohnWallace44:

New England goes through like 8 white linebackers a season.
Dan Morgan? Great when he's on the field but always injured.

Lee's going to get overpaid by someone in another year. We might as well be grooming Balkman now.

Brian Urlacher?

You don't trade either, you give up collins and chandler if you have too you never move players like lee and balkman, they are not the same, they just give the same effort. Give Balkman another year and he has allstar potential because he is above average in stls, rbs, blks, and his scoring is going to come.

Lee is too smart to trade. I don't need chandler, morris etc here you move those guys.

Jefferies, Morris, Chandler or Nate for Artest

Posted by VDesai:

Posted by JohnWallace44:

New England goes through like 8 white linebackers a season.
Dan Morgan? Great when he's on the field but always injured.

Lee's going to get overpaid by someone in another year. We might as well be grooming Balkman now.

Brian Urlacher?

The exception to the rule...

David Lee is a proven double-double player. Balkman has played well in spurts, but hasn't gotten consistent enough minutes for us to really know what he's capable of.

As has been stated before, they both play the game a similar way, but Lee has a slight bias toward big man skills and Balkman toward guard skills. Both run the break and finish really well (though Balkman's probably better with the ball).

In terms of roles, we can't trade Lee and expect Balkman to fill the Lee role quite the same way. He's a lot less beefy than Lee and we really don't know if he can play even average defense against the elite bigs.

I think a lot of y'all make good points about Lee and athleticism. It seems like there could be a good case made toward white players having some great seasons early in their careers, only to have their athleticism sapped away only to become journeyman bench players.

Recently, we've seen big years from Troy Murphy, but he's a shell of his outstanding former self now... no longer the 15/10 threat. Does he have some nagging injuries? He seems to have settled in as a 11/6 player now.

We've also seen a lot of guys like Cardinal and Scalabrine who've shown some brilliant (awkward) energy moments, but have been more or else useless since signing big contracts. These two were never even close to as athletic as Lee.

Even the "great" Keith Van Horn... what the heck happened to him? He looked like he'd become into a poor man's Bird, a 19/8-type pure shooting, athletic big man -- the pre-Nowitzki. It's like his outstanding leaping ability/quickness disappeared overnight... then he became this slow-footed shooter who couldn't even pretend to play defense. He's probably the last great white American prospect.

What does this spell for Lee, who may not be as athletic as KVH in the first place, who doesn't have the pure shooting touch or refined offensive skills than KVH had? Do we truly expect an energy player to develop polished offensive skills and become a star, or is he what he is, slated to lose a little athleticism here and there until he's just an average joe on the court?

(Keep in mind players of all races seem to lose something as they get older - it's just that white players tend to stand out in the minds of fans)

[Edited by - technomaster on 07-06-2007 10:12 AM]

Do you just say lee isn't or might not be as athletic as van horn? Wow

[quote]
Posted by misterearl:

People who clamor for better perimeter defense may need to decide if Lee is a better defender than Balkman

Ball handling in the open court - Balkman

Intuition in the half court passing game - Lee

Movement without the ball - even

Rebounding - tough call

Marketiing - Lee

Jump shot - neither

Ability to play more than one position - both, Lee can cameo at center, Balkman at two guard

Defending the three point shot - Balkman

Better sixth man, which is what either would be with the acquisition of Artest - depends on your preference

tough call




Balkman has proven he can be a serious rebounder on occassion but David Lee has the physical size 6-9 250 compared to 6-7 205 and has absolutely proven to be a top tier NBA rebounder[top3-5 imho given minutes] --there is no way that is even long term. There will be games where the 6-7 205 doesnt allow balkman to get rebounds that lee will EVERY single night. I feel very confident when I say this. David Lee is a superior rebounder to Balkman.

Renaldo Balkman is an interesting Knick figure. His predecessor, Trevor Ariza, was also an unheralded rook. In Trevors 2nd season, he had accrued enough trade value that he could be packaged in a trade and be the main 'talent' factor involved.

Balkman, entering season two, might be accruing that same type of value. When Isiah drafted Chandler, it put pressure on the Balkster to take another couple steps forward, or to eventually find himself replaceable, and maybe the next Knick out the door ala Trevor last year.

In fact, Isiah has proven so adept at drafting late gems, that he can do this every year... get a guy unheralded who he believes will nevertheless find a niche in this league and be an official baller for years to come. Then trade that guy once he's established some value.

Its like having a farm system and trading away prospects every year for that starting pitcher you need. Not a bad strategy if we trade Balk, and in a year Chandler gives us what Balk did.


[Edited by - kam77 on 07-06-2007 12:49 PM]

I think Lee is a better player than Balkman right now as evidenced by the +/- ratings and the Roland Ratings, but he is a year ahead of Balkman. As far as where they're going, I'd hold on to both of those guys. They're going to be very good. And if either develops a jump shot - forget it.