The Golden State Warriors, whether or not they win the NBA title this year, will enter the free-agency season signing Draymond Green to a contract extension as its top priority. However, the Warriors are already committed to pay at least $10MM per year to four players, and in order to accommodate Green's expected max extension and sudden spike in Klay Thompson's paycheck, a trade has to come down.
David Lee, former two-time NBA All-Star, is expected to be the odd man out this summer, considering how dramatic his role has changed in just a year: from being a starter and best offensive big man of the team to a player that barely cracked a significant playing time behind Green in the NBA finals.
Despite the sharp decline in his usage rate, Lee is actually the highest-paid player on the Warriors roster as he's earning $15 million this season and will be pocketing another $15 million next season.
The 32-year old Lee averaged 7.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in 18.4 minutes per game during the regular-season. In the playoffs, his numbers went a lot worse as he put up 2.0 points in career-low 7.6 minutes of action. Based on the numbers alone, it's easy to say the Warriors don't see Lin as an integral part of the current team and obviously not in the future. Thus, all directions are pointing to an inevitable divorce between the Warriors and Lee.
Potential Landing Spots
Trading a player that can eat a large slice of the salary cap is always tricky. However, Lee's $15 million expiring contract could also turn into a desirable trade target, especially for teams looking to create a big cap space for the free-agency summer of 2016. Moreover, Lee can still provide double-double numbers if given the same playing time he had the last four seasons with the Warriors. While Lee is not a great fit for Steve Kerr's small ball scheme, the veteran forward can do great things for teams seeking production at the power forward spot. He's still an effective low-post scorer who does not rely on sheer athleticism but rather on a vast repertoire of moves around the basket.
Having said of that, the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers are the two most ideal landing spots for Lee because they have the cap space to absorb his huge contract, and both desperately need for a skilled big man down low.
In fact, Lee is one of few big men in the league who has a skills-set (above average passing and shooting at his size) perfect for Phil Jackson's triangle offense, while he's easily an upgrade over Jordan Hill or Ed Davis for the Lakers incase they missed out again on the top free-agent forwards/center (Marc Gasol and LaMarcus Aldridge) this offseason.
The Knicks and Lakers are eager to get back to playoff contention after two years of disappointments. Lee, still very much a multi-faceted scoring big, might end up as a smart fall-back options for these teams that clearly have a massive hole to fill in the interior.