http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/leeco01.html

Lowe on Lee 4/29/14 "The power of the pretty good guys"

Everyone kind of shrugged when the Grizzlies dealt Jerryd Bayless for Courtney Lee in January. Lee was better and filled a need as a wing player who could both shoot and play decent defense. The basketball reasons were obvious, but analysts and front-office people4 were a little surprised the Grizzlies were willing to pay Lee more than $11 million combined over 2014-15 and 2015-16 — even if his former agent is now Memphis’s CEO. Was the lack of flexibility worth such a marginal upgrade?

Flash forward to the playoffs, and Lee looks downright essential. Like, it’s hard to even imagine Memphis competing against the Thunder without him. Tayshaun Prince and Tony Allen can’t shoot, but the Grizz need one of them on the floor almost every minute to pester Kevin Durant. If you play one of those guys, your other wing better be able to shoot. Mike Miller can shoot, but he’s a defensive liability the Grizz must hide on a weak offensive player.

Lee is the only guy who can play both ways, and he has logged 34 minutes per game. The Thunder must respect his 3-point shooting, and while Lee is probably just an average defender, average is fine, and he’s versatile enough to guard Russell Westbrook, most wing players, and even Durant on the occasional switch.

Lee’s value is another reminder that timing these signings within a team’s broader trajectory is essential — and tricky. The Grizzlies are locked into three big-money contracts attached to players they like, and there was no palatable way to trade any of those three in an attempt to shift the direction of the franchise. Memphis’s front office believed it could be a dangerous playoff team, and understood it would have no means in the offseason to sign a player clearly better than Lee. This was a contender using a salary slot at an optimal time and swallowing the future cap implications.

A rebuilding team would have had no interest in making such a financial commitment to Lee, unless it had drafted him and needed to re-sign him.

What to like: A pro's pro going all the way back to his Orlando days. Broke into NBA as a 23 year old rookie, then played 4th most minutes for that 08-09 Orlando team that lost to the Lakers in the Finals. Under SVG that says something right? I just wish we could get the 2014 28 year old Lee. signing him at 31 might be meh.