Warriors looking to deal David Lee: Should Celtics pursue a trade?

Now that the Finals are over, the Warriors have tough decisions to make around player personnel going forward. As it stands the Warriors have made clear two things they'd like to get done this offseason. One, as Golden State GM Bob Meyers hinted, is to pay big money to retain breakout forward Draymond Green. The other is to trade role player David Lee.

Yesterday ESPN's Marc Stein reported the Warriors privately acknowledged to Lee that it would be unfair to him for them to retain him in such a limited role again. The team also gave Lee credit for accepting this role selflessly and without ever complaining. Per Stein, the organization is ultimately expected to explore the trade market quite aggressively for Lee offers. So the question of course, is should Boston be interested? And if so, how interested? Well, let's look at the positives and negatives of bringing in David Lee.

First off, the cons. David Lee is getting up there in age at 32 years old. Over the course of his career he's never been considered a great defender and his athleticism leaves much to be desired. Last year his free-throw shooting took a substantial dip and he finished at 65% compared to 78% the previous season.

In terms of pros, he's a skilled passer and can play with his back to the basket. Lee is efficient offensively and just last year posted 18.2 points with 9.3 rebounds in 33 minutes per game. The season before that, Lee made the All-Star team with the Warriors by marking 18.5 points to go with 11.2 boards a night.

This past season the former star was on the floor for a mere 18.4 minutes per night, marking the lowest in his career since his rookie season (16.9). However, Lee's production did not wane much as he averaged 15.5 points, 10.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists per 36 minutes on the floor.

The point here is he isn't far removed from making significant contributions. Fans should also be mindful that his demotion to the bench wasn't due to lack of production as much as it was a result of Green's ascension as a versatile stopper.

David Lee is scheduled to make 15.4 million dollars next year. If traded to the Celtics in exchange for Gerald Wallace who is owed 10 million next season along with a first rounder, the cap hit would not be catastrophic.

Boston could formulate a deal where we acquire Lee for Wallace and a first rounder (or two, obviously not Brooklyn's), and I believe this would be good for our team. I'd be open to hearing propositions otherwise. Hopefully Danny will be too. Lee's acquisition of course would make the most (maybe the only) sense if Boston can also acquire a star via free agency or trade. But David Lee can play.


Bottom photo via Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

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