I will preface this post by saying that I really like David Lee. A lot. He’s a really nice player. He has gumption and heart. We all watched him get better over the last five years season by season and he made greater strides in each subsequent year. This past year he turned himself into an all-star by perfecting – seemingly overnight a quarter of the way into the season – his midrange jumper.
But now that the Knicks are closing in on Amar’e Stoudemire it looks like they are likely to also close the door on David Lee. A lot of Knicks fans lament that the Knicks “didn’t take care of their own”. But believe me, Lee isn’t looking at it that way. He’s looking to score a max contract and he’s making the rounds to the Bulls, the Heat, the Nets, the Wolves, etc. David Lee isn’t going to look back. He’s going to take care of himself. And Knicks fans should look at it the same way. The Knicks are trying to take care of themselves.
Amar’e Stoudemire has the ability to make the Knicks viable again. People will take them seriously now for the first time since Scott Layden passed on him in the 2002 NBA draft. Amar’e can attract other stars because he’s a five time all-star with enough cachet around the league to get another star to listen to him recruit for the Knicks. Why? Because he’s been part of 50 win teams, 60 win teams. He doesn’t get all the credit, but those are just the facts. I’m not saying it’s fair. I’m just saying that’s how it is.
For approximately $3 million more per year you’re getting a lot more value for your money out of Amar’e. For example, word has it that Amar’e is recruiting LeBron to join him in New York. Would LeBron even take David Lee’s calls?
Lee is nice but he’s a glorified hustle player and other players around the league understand this. He makes the all-star team because someone else is hurt. He gets dominated by the other all-stars. This isn’t to bash the guy. He’s grown into a terrific basketball player before our eyes. Enough so that he’s got visions of swimming in a pool of cash that some other team is going to fork over. He’s going to put the money in the bag and never look back. Don’t cry for him folks. He’s gonna be fine.
I understand your points about Amare being able to generate interest among other players and agree with you.
But think had their roles been reversed and David Lee played with Nash and the Suns this year and Amare with Duhon and the Knicks the perceptions of their relative ability would be similar or even reversed.
Both athleticism and playing on a wining does a lot to alter perceptions. As a result individuals are often underrated or overrated based on their teammates or the types of skills they possess. The high flier will always be rated higher than the garbage man even if they accomplish as much on the court.
A good example is Jamal Crawford. He was considered a mediocre player with a terrible contract on the Knicks. Now he’s the 6th man of the year, outplayed JJ in the playoffs, and will probably get a similar or better contract next time.
The Knicks could be a much better team next year. Part of that may be due to Amare attracting another good player or some of the kind developing a lot, but I think it’s highly unlikely Amare himself is going to add many wins on his own. He’ll just score a little more and look better doing it.
I agree with your point about perceived value. My counter is only that, fair or not, Amar’e's perceived value is greater. It’s the reality of the situation rather than a hypothetical, and that’s what the Knicks have to base their decision on.
This deserves an update because the reality is signing Amare did not attract anyone. None of the free agents wanted to play with him.