Will Courtney Lee's role on the Celtics change this upcoming season?

Today, (October 3rd) Courtney Lee turns 28. He's a year older, a year wiser, still in his prime, and one of the best all-around players on the Boston Celtics. Last season seemed like a long roller-coaster ride for Lee. He began the season as a starter, struggled early in the season, benched for Jason Terry, stayed benched for Bradley, became a starter again when Rondo went down, got injured, benched again when Pierce and Green shared the starting lineup, and barely saw playing time in the playoffs.

Due to the unforeseen troubles the Celtics had last season, I think few people got the chance to appreciate how well Lee actually played. He made very few mistakes and played his role perfectly. He was an ideal "3 and D" player with great shooting percentages across the board. Out of players who played a minimum of 1000 minutes last season, Courtney Lee was ranked behind only Jason Terry in terms of overall eFG%. Courtney Lee was handling his business on the other end of the court as well. Defensively, he had the 2nd best defensive rating (104) among Celtic guards, only behind Rondo.

If Courtney Lee had any major flaw last season, it would be his lack of aggressiveness. He did not look for his shot the way I expected him to. He averaged career-lows in field goal attempts, 3-pointers, and free throws despite how well he shot the ball for the better half of the season. Often times, I would see Courtney Lee wait in the corner, receive the pass, pump fake, drive to the rim, and dish it out to start the play all over again. I thought it was perhaps a decrease in confidence. He was benched for his struggles in the beginning of the year, but when Avery Bradley got off of injury, he struggled significantly more than Lee did, but kept his starting position anyway.

This is no knock on Doc Rivers, because I understand he trusts his players, but when a player gets benched for struggling, it brings the confidence level down (see Gerald Wallace).

This all has me wondering what's in store for Courtney Lee next season. In my opinion, as of right now, Lee is the best shooting guard on the team. However, there is still a log-jam at the shooting guard position with Brooks, Crawford, Bradley, Bogans, and recently, Brad Stevens said that even Jeff Green could see some minutes at the shooting guard position, so there's no telling what's in store for Courtney Lee. You would think that the Celtics may want to show off Brooks or Crawford so they may be traded, but at the same time, the goal is to make it to the playoffs, and I believe playing guys like Lee over Brooks and Crawford seems like the best way to do it, but I don't know that for sure. I do know that with Pierce, Terry, and Garnett gone, Lee should have a bigger role offensively.

He's a very good complimentary and versatile player to have on the roster. I'm glad Courtney Lee is still on the team, and is still playing well even in training camp, according to Brad Stevens.



These were just a view of his 2012-2013 highlights brought to you by me: TheCelticD



What are your thoughts? Do you think Lee's role on the team will change? Will he be one of the integral players on the roster?
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