His scouts blew the draft and he didn't lock Lee up at 8/9 million.

His jumper is becoming automatic and he is putting up better numbers than Bosh and Amare. Two players that are asking for 17 million.

So we could have had a point guard of the future and Walsh takes a power forward. We could have had an allstar PF for a bargin and he waits. Nate doesn't fit the system but he is resigned. Bender playing over a lottery pick. Playing guys to the wire with a back to back approaching.

The nets or thunder will steal this kid and its a shame. The only thing in our favor are endorsments.

With Bosh and Amare, they are as good as they will be. Amare with all his injuries is not the same and will be even worse without Nash. Bosh has all the skills but his D is suspect as are his knees. Lee is healthy and young.

If I am DW and MDA, Trade Jefferies, sign LBJ and then resign Lee. Find someway to improve on the PG situation for next season. Sign a couple of vets for the minimum and go with it until Curry expires.

New PG/TD
Chandler/Vet FA
LBJ/Bender
Gallo/Hill
Lee/Vet FA

MS wrote:The real shame in this situation is our GM was asleep at the wheel all offseason.

His scouts blew the draft and he didn't lock Lee up at 8/9 million.

His jumper is becoming automatic and he is putting up better numbers than Bosh and Amare. Two players that are asking for 17 million.

So we could have had a point guard of the future and Walsh takes a power forward. We could have had an allstar PF for a bargin and he waits. Nate doesn't fit the system but he is resigned. Bender playing over a lottery pick. Playing guys to the wire with a back to back approaching.

The nets or thunder will steal this kid and its a shame. The only thing in our favor are endorsments.

could it be that Lee is playing so motivated right now as a response to walsh's patience? I will forever rue the Hill over Jennings draft pick, no doubt, but I think Walsh played his hand right with the Lee situation. I also don't expect this level to continue for the rest of the year. Lee is a double-double machine and has inflated #s right now b/c he's the best player on a bad team, saying the guy's gonna get a max contract b/c of an inspired stretch of ball played at the end of December is a bit much. Let's see Lee lead us to A) a playoff berth and B) a playoff W before we start saying he's gonna get maxed out by somebody. Like TMS said, Bosh does this every night (24/12 for the yr w/ 23 double-doubles vs. 19/11 w/ 16 double-doubles from Lee) and some say he'll settle for less than the max.

That being said, I think he's made the case that he's perfect for this system. He can run, he's very active on the glass, he's expanding his offense and he's working hard on D. I think Bosh will probably wind up in Miami with D-Wade, and Lee will be the 2nd best big on the market. Walsh's patience may wind up costing him a few mil, but I'll take patience over cap-killing contracts every day of the week.

if lee is consistent on the jumper, then he has to be considered a top flight PF...and one that can easily demand the same contract as a guy like amare will and boozer did.

we're not talking $10 mil a year anymore, we're talking $13-15 a year now.

he's one of the best big man finishers around the rim.

you can find good talent late in the 1st round but isiah found nate, chandler and lee...one gm found all those guys...gotta give him his props...

BRIGGS wrote:

AbrahamLincoln wrote:Superstar players are only worth maximum salary. David Lee is far from a superstar.

David Lee is a great basketball player. I see a bunch of players making max$$$ that I wouldnt even consider trading for Lee. David Lee has been abusing the so-called stars recently.
If I was his agent I would ask for max. Why should he take less? Living in NY is expensive

AFTER losing to sacramento, i thought we didn't have sh#t according to you briggs...

Lee is a fantastic player, but not a superstar. just because a lot of clowns are getting undeserved max money, mean that we should pay lee that kind of loot... I think lee gives knicks a hometown discount..

MS wrote:Walsh made a big mistake and that's a fact. This has nothing to do with contracy motivation. This is who David Lee is. A guy that cares signs autographs long after teammates leave, always says the right things and is underappreciated. Fans have been all over this guy especially people on this board always talking about his limitations. Bosh and Amare play no defense and everyone thinks they are max players. Lee is not putting up numbers because he is on a bad team. He has always shot a high percentage. Look at his stat lines. I don't care if Duhon looks for him. He is going to be a 20pt 10rb guy and we could have locked it in for 9 million. Now we have to blow another 4 million which we could have spent on a Foye, Lorwy type player to add depth.

The plan to clear cap was a good one, but you need to build a team. Drafting a PF that can't crack this rotation may have cost us Lebron and most certaintly will cost us Lee.

It doesn't matter if Lee is going to make 10-12mil rather then 8-9mil. The Knicks don't mind paying as long as the player produces. So if this is who Lee is and he is going to keep improving after he signs a healthy contract then it doesn't matter. He produced 10-10 and 16-10 the last 2 yrs on a cheap rookie contract. He outperformed his contract the last 2 yrs and now going on 3yrs in a row. So the extra 3-4mil he will get per yrs only makes up for outperforming his contracts in the past.

That being said, I believe Lee is 100% motivated by the money more then anything. He had minimal offers in the off-season by teams around the league. He put hrs in the gym to prove that he can be worth the long term contract he wanted. If he got his long term contract its possible he would have still worked hard to prove that he was worth it. But you can never match the motivation and hunger for that first long term contract.

newyorknewyork wrote:Lee, Gallinari, Chandler have all been playing great as of late. We may not have that superstar to play with. But have seem to have a borderline all-star and 2 very very promising young players to play with. Plus a boat load of cap space the following yr in 2011.

Yes, I think in all the gloom and doom, people are missing that.

MS wrote:Walsh made a big mistake and that's a fact. This has nothing to do with contracy motivation. This is who David Lee is. A guy that cares signs autographs long after teammates leave, always says the right things and is underappreciated. Fans have been all over this guy especially people on this board always talking about his limitations. Bosh and Amare play no defense and everyone thinks they are max players. Lee is not putting up numbers because he is on a bad team. He has always shot a high percentage. Look at his stat lines. I don't care if Duhon looks for him. He is going to be a 20pt 10rb guy and we could have locked it in for 9 million. Now we have to blow another 4 million which we could have spent on a Foye, Lorwy type player to add depth.

The plan to clear cap was a good one, but you need to build a team. Drafting a PF that can't crack this rotation may have cost us Lebron and most certaintly will cost us Lee.

Bull. Bull, bull, and more bull. If he signed Lee to a $10 mil/per deal you would have flipped like we just rehired Isiah as GM! Lee wanted $10-12 mil before he proved he was worth it. Now he has proved it. This is not a case of Walsh missing an opportunity to sign Lee as it is Lee playing himself into a rich contract.

newyorknewyork wrote:Lee, Gallinari, Chandler have all been playing great as of late. We may not have that superstar to play with. But have seem to have a borderline all-star and 2 very very promising young players to play with. Plus a boat load of cap space the following yr in 2011.

i agree with this.

the best part of this year is looking at dlee, gallo and chandler playing well as a unit. love those guys.

even more than lebron i think our team NEEDs a star PG and a big man like bosh.

if you told me we could get a STAR pg and bosh, i might want that even more than lebron.

Amare 20.3pts 8.5rbs 1.0ass 3.0tos 55.9%
Lee 18.8pts 10.8rb 3.1ass 2.5tos 58.2%
Bosh 23.5pts 11.2rbs 1.8ass 2.0tos 51.6%
(take 3 more shots than Lee and Amare)

You give lee the edge over amare because he is the better rebounder and passer and turns it over less. Bosh is outperforming lee, I was wrong there.

But Lee at 9 million or Bosh at 17 million. Which is what we could have locked him up for last season. There is someteam out there that will give Lee 12-13 now.