PF/C Comparative: FA Class vs Lee

I would rather sign Chris Bosh at 16 million, because Bosh is a lot better than Lee. He led the Raptors to the playoffs twice, and they practically had the same players that they do now when he led them. I don't think Lee could have led the Raptors to a playoff berth, with the talent the Raptors had when Bosh led them.

However, I don't think Bosh wants to come to the Knicks, so signing Lee would be the right thing to do.

If I was a GM, I'd re-sign Lee at 12 million/yr. I would start my offer at 8 million/yr, just so that he doesn't enlarge his ego too much, and then I'd slowly raise my offer to 12 million. But that is the most he's worth. Lee is really a 13-16 point, 9-10 rebound player who is benefiting from the fact that nobody else on the Knick frontcourt can rebound or consistently get dunks and layups.

I am in the Lee for 12 mil camp. Like someone stated above, Lee is homegrown(wink). Secondly, D. Lee is an unselfish player who is continues to expand his game. 12 mil a year in New York is like 20 mil in Toronto. More opportunities in NY. And I don't think D. Lee will let the money go to his head. Get a defensive center so D. Lee can concentrate on points/assists/boards instead of being outsized night in and night out. You put D. Lee with a legit scorer and that takes away the ability for opposing teams double either player. We can run our offense from inside out like good ole days.

abcd said:

I would rather sign Chris Bosh at 16 million, because Bosh is a lot better than Lee. He led the Raptors to the playoffs twice, and they practically had the same players that they do now when he led them.

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And what does it say about the Raptors that Chris Bosh after playing with the same squad for so long and working on their team chemistry fell short of the playoffs this year? Either:

1. His supporting cast sucks
2. Or he's just not that good

I mean, come on. How can Chris Bosh ask for max money when he leads his team to a 9th place finish in the EAST when you have players like LeBron James who pretty much single-handedly take their teams to the Conference Finals? How can Chris Bosh ask for max money when he's fallen short of the playoffs two years in a row? How can Chris Bosh ask for max money when in 2008-2009 he led his team to a 33-49 record, merely one game better than us lowly Knicks?

David Lee's improved his game from year to year (better passer, better rebounder, adding a mid-range jumper). His PPG has gone up each year and he's just gotten a hell of a lot better since entering the league as an end of 1st round draft pick. And he might even get better, who knows?

Chris Bosh, on the other hand, has pretty much reached his peak as a player. Statistically, he hasn't really changed much from year to year since 2005-2006. It's safe to assume that he's probably come as far as a player as he ever will. He's a less efficient scorer than Lee, a worse rebounder than Lee is. He's got a stronger inside game, a bit more height, and a bit more defense, but I really don't think he's worth the max contract, especially in light of how the Raptors have performed as of late, missing the playoffs and all that.

And here's one last thing - Bosh has nagging injuries!

Lee doesn't. For the past 3 years, David Lee has played in 81 games each year. Maybe he gets an off-day each year, who knows, but point being David Lee HUSTLES and TRIES HARD and ISN'T SOFT and DOESN'T GET HURT. Point being Lee's only missed 3 games in the past 3 years.

Whereas Chris Bosh missed 15 games in 2007-2008, 5 games in 2008-2009, and 12 games in 2009-2010, for a grand total of 32 games over the past 3 years, or an average of about 10 games per year.

I'm not paying Chris Bosh more money to sit on the bench.

David Lee is a better value...He has more upside, based on his yearly improvment, and is more of a complimentary player. We're talking about a secondary free agent here, D. Lee is not a superstar, he is more of a glue kind of guy.
Chris Bosh is neither a superstar or a complimentary player, he needs plays run for him, and an offense that fits his strengths. We already know Lee works in the system D'antoni wants to run (or something similar), we don't know if Bosh does...
Simply put, Bosh is not worth that kind of money, and we don't even know if he'd be a good fit. Not to mention, we would have to give Toronto god knows what in a sign & trade...

LOIOSH30 said:

David Lee is a better value...He has more upside, based on his yearly improvment, and is more of a complimentary player. We're talking about a secondary free agent here, D. Lee is not a superstar, he is more of a glue kind of guy.
Chris Bosh is neither a superstar or a complimentary player, he needs plays run for him, and an offense that fits his strengths. We already know Lee works in the system D'antoni wants to run (or something similar), we don't know if Bosh does...
Simply put, Bosh is not worth that kind of money, and we don't even know if he'd be a good fit. Not to mention, we would have to give Toronto god knows what in a sign & trade...

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I agree that Lee for 12 mil is better value than Bosh at 16 mil, but Bosh has more upside than anyone in this conversation. I'd still take Lee. But Bosh could still easily become a 2nd option in the same way Pau became one.

SSj4Wingzero said:

And here's one last thing - Bosh has nagging injuries!

Lee doesn't. For the past 3 years, David Lee has played in 81 games each year. Maybe he gets an off-day each year, who knows, but point being David Lee HUSTLES and TRIES HARD and ISN'T SOFT and DOESN'T GET HURT. Point being Lee's only missed 3 games in the past 3 years.

Whereas Chris Bosh missed 15 games in 2007-2008, 5 games in 2008-2009, and 12 games in 2009-2010, for a grand total of 32 games over the past 3 years, or an average of about 10 games per year.

I'm not paying Chris Bosh more money to sit on the bench.

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That is the major factor. You buy the car that is cheaper runs hardest and gets most milage.

Lee definitely has the better engine out of the 2.

There is almost no way Lee comes back. For the knicks to even make an attempt at 2 of the other free agents we have to renounce Lee's bird rights.
So the only way he comes back is if after Walsh has already made attempts at a S&T involving Lee prior to july 1 and if that doesn't work then we renounce him and miss out on signing the combo of Lebron's or Wade's choice and Lee hasn't already signed a contract with another team. Unless Walsh values him more than Boozer/Bosh/Amare. He might value him more than Boozer and maybe more than Amare but I don't know about Bosh. The knicks will show how much they value Lee prior to july 1 if they don't involve him in a s&T for Bosh. Ultimately it comes down to wade or Bron. I think those are 2 guys walsh would bend for when filling out the rest of the roster. So if no S&T is offered for Bosh or Cp3 or a Rubio package and Bron and Wade resign with their current teams AND Lee still hasn't found a home then I think they will try and resign him.

OFF TOPIC (Sup trill... watch the laker game? You never see LA make the type of mistake Artest made tonight. I think the writing is on the wall and if The Suns can get Lopez back it might be there year.)

yeah Lee though hmmmmmm....

I read an article today about yao ming wanting to opt out of his contract. yao wants a ring. would any of you guys consider lebron and yao on the knicks?

yao and tmac pt 2

houstin may not want to commit to yao considering foot injuries. Also, people may be downplaying the New York market and the revenue it generates, but yao's own teammates have talke about his shoe contract, (yao is the chineese jordan). Yao would be a mega star in new york. paired with the likes of king james, thats a one two punch for years to come. the ockets need to revuild thru the draft after the failed yao/tmac project.....and after giving ariza all that cash, they need to make changes

Toons said:

I read an article today about yao ming wanting to opt out of his contract. yao wants a ring. would any of you guys consider lebron and yao on the knicks?

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I don't consider anyone that's missed umpteen games due to injury. Center or no. We wanna play a running game and Yao's major burden is hauling that enormous frame around.

And Lebron isn't coming.

knickzrulezH20 said:

I agree that Lee for 12 mil is better value than Bosh at 16 mil, but Bosh has more upside than anyone in this conversation. I'd still take Lee. But Bosh could still easily become a 2nd option in the same way Pau became one.

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Lee's stats have improved each year, Bosh has put up basically the same numbers since his 3rd year...Lee has more upside...

The knicks need to go back to playing defense and having a real good half court game... This running team garbage is just that..Garbage. If Yao is somehow available(which I probably wouldn't count on) I would scoop him up in a heartbeat. Even Injured he's better than ANY big man in league not named Dwight.

Lee is a good player, but I want anyone on here to honestly think his numbers would be what they are, if he played his true position of PF? if the Knicks did get a Center, and Lee played the 4... I seriously doubt that he will average what he averages point wise... on the boards, he is a beat plain and simple.

lilman_bklyn said:

The knicks need to go back to playing defense and having a real good half court game... This running team garbage is just that..Garbage. If Yao is somehow available(which I probably wouldn't count on) I would scoop him up in a heartbeat. Even Injured he's better than ANY big man in league not named Dwight.

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I agree if Yao Ming is available we should sign him.

lilman_bklyn said:

The knicks need to go back to playing defense and having a real good half court game... This running team garbage is just that..Garbage. If Yao is somehow available(which I probably wouldn't count on) I would scoop him up in a heartbeat. Even Injured he's better than ANY big man in league not named Dwight.

Lee is a good player, but I want anyone on here to honestly think his numbers would be what they are, if he played his true position of PF? if the Knicks did get a Center, and Lee played the 4... I seriously doubt that he will average what he averages point wise... on the boards, he is a beat plain and simple.

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Agreed. But re: Lee...points may very well go down but efficiency, defense, and assists may very well go up.

Even if his points plummet:

16-11-4, w/ a blk and stl a game over backdrop of .500++++ shooting and defensive prescense....combine his hustle, injury-free, ability to compliment game....

He is a steal at this asking price.

Jbraheim said we need to take advantage of Lees bird rights tho in order to have shot at a sign 2max...is this 100% true?????! I know it and credence before the cap situation changed, and of course Lee himself isn't a max contract..

Ideally, I was under impression that we could go Bron/Lee/TyrusT as far as signings go.

I disagree with all the Big man stuff. You basically just need a Big man to fill a role. To protect the paint, Rebound well and get a couple of blocked shots.

The Bulls never had a dominant big man and won 6 times.

The Celtics won a ring with Kendrick Perkins.

The Pistons won a ring with Ben Wallace.

Don't get me wrong If you can draft a guy like Dwight Howard who comes around once a decade...Yeah you do it.

But Yao Ming? Brendan Haywood? How did Dallas fair with Brendan Haywood.

Phoenix is stomping the Spurs with Jason Collins manning the middle.

I just don't read enough guy's on here just talking about putting together the most cohesive team, regardless of POSITION or NAME.

Chemistry breeds winning in my opinion.

I have a completely open mind on what Donnie is going to do.

JUst make the pieces fit. In the last decade the pieces just haven't fit. That's been the biggest problem.

LOIOSH30 said:

Lee's stats have improved each year, Bosh has put up basically the same numbers since his 3rd year...Lee has more upside...

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That's cause Lee used to average like 9 pts and 9 reb while Bosh averaged 22 and 10. Big whoop. It's not even close. Bosh is way more athletic. He's better than Lee in every way except passing. I'm not hating on Lee. I'd rather have Lee. But CB4 is a better player than Lee, and he always will be. David Lee does not have more upside than Chris Bosh. Not even close.

ibraheim718 said:

I disagree with all the Big man stuff. You basically just need a Big man to fill a role. To protect the paint, Rebound well and get a couple of blocked shots.

The Bulls never had a dominant big man and won 6 times.

The Celtics won a ring with Kendrick Perkins.

The Pistons won a ring with Ben Wallace.

Don't get me wrong If you can draft a guy like Dwight Howard who comes around once a decade...Yeah you do it.

But Yao Ming? Brendan Haywood? How did Dallas fair with Brendan Haywood.

Phoenix is stomping the Spurs with Jason Collins manning the middle.

I just don't read enough guy's on here just talking about putting together the most cohesive team, regardless of POSITION or NAME.

Chemistry breeds winning in my opinion.

I have a completely open mind on what Donnie is going to do.

JUst make the pieces fit. In the last decade the pieces just haven't fit. That's been the biggest problem.

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7'0 PF/C count to. And the Bulls had MJ lol. He defies all odds.

Celtics had Gay-G.
Pistons had Sheed, plus Wallace used to be a beast.
Phoenix gonna get their ass whooped by the Lakers

Size matters bro. It's why big men are so valued.