David Lee to accept the Knicks one-year qualifying for $2.7?

TBT · Post #1 » by **TBT** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 6:01 am

Maybe the worst thing that ever happened to David Lee was not being the 31st pick of the NBA Draft. As the last pick of the first round, Lee was tied into a rookie wage scale.

As a second-round pick, Lee would have been an unrestricted free agent by now. Instead, as a restricted free agent he's not finding may takers because the Knicks can match any offer and very few teams either can or are willing to offer Lee upwards of $10 million annually.

I always felt that Lee's agent, Mark Bartelstein would get his client a deal. But now it's looking more and more like Lee might have to accept the Knicks one-year qualifying offer for $2.7 million. The same goes for Nate Robinson.

Next summer when more teams have cap space, Lee would increase his chances of landing a big deal. The Knicks could always re-sign him to a long-term deal next summer. But if the Knicks get Lee under contract for 2009-10, they also have the option of eventually packaging the power forward with another player (Larry Hughes, Jared Jeffries) in order to shed more cap space.

You may not agree with Donnie Walsh for chasing a couple of geezers - Jason Kidd and Grant Hill - but he's in the driver's seat with Lee and Robinson.

One day, Knicks rookie Toney Douglas may be in the same boat as Lee and Robinson. But today, he's on top of the world after the 29th overall pick was signed by the Knicks.

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/knicks ... Kp8NdaK7&D

darkjedi4z · Post #2 » by **darkjedi4z** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 6:05 am

Smoke24 · Post #3 » by **Smoke24** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 6:07 am

Well this pretty much guarantees he has the bests season of his career if he accepts the QO. Good for us because we get to keep him another year and good for him to show people that his last season wasn't a fluke.

ITGM · Post #4 » by **ITGM** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 6:09 am

Post #5 » by **kane2021** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 6:16 am

This is what I dont get about a 1 year deal. Bird rights are for teams to go over the cap and sign there own players. But in 2010 we have cap space. So we need to sign our FA's first then sign other FA's. If we use the cap money on other players first we lose our bird rights. So if we get lee back on a one year deal we would just lose him next year. If we get him on the one year deal the best bet is like you said, package him and deal him. I have been saying this, 2 years 14 mil. Move JJ if you can and have lee take is cap spot for 2010. Then start the negotiations again in 2011. He gets decent money for 2 years and we see how he plays with a star player. If he does well then we can ink him up long term. If we move JJ and give him that deal, it wont change our stance in 2010 from what it is now. But I dont think that is a deal that will happen.

Alvinator4 · Post #6 » by **Alvinator4** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 6:28 am

i mean i really feel bad for the guy...
his agent is trying to take way too much for a guy that had one good season...

it would be such a steal to take him for 3 million...
and after next season, we might be able to convince him to stay by taking lebron

same with nate...
if we can sign both for under 8 or 9 million, then this free agency is an A+

DavidLeeFan_42 · Post #7 » by **DavidLeeFan_42** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 6:36 am

That would be nice if he accepted that 1 year deal. He would defiantly be motivated next season to put up good numbers for us to try to get that big deal he wants. Even thought I am a big Lee fan I won't want to jeopardize the future by having him sign a long contract that is more than 10 million a year. He is a good player but more of a role player then a star. I know his agent is trying to get a sweet deal for him but he is really overvaluing Lee's worth. I would be sad to see Lee leave but if another team offers him a huge contract we got to say goodbye to him. Hope he comes to his senses and gives NY a discount to stay here for 4-5 years. Lee a player I want NY to keep for a long time. I don't care about losing Nate cause his play is easy to replace.

aq_ua · Post #8 » by **aq_ua** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 6:40 am

Ben Gordon signed for the qualifying offer, and look how well he did this year. The most money is available earliest in the off seasons, not surprisingly, so each passing day means its less likely DLee can find a good deal this summer and more likely he'll be better off waiting a year.

Post #9 » by **kane2021** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 6:42 am

He's going to be the last man standing in a room full of empty pockets soon.

D Kakes · Post #10 » by **D Kakes** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 6:47 am

DavidLeeFan_42 wrote:Hope he comes to his senses and gives NY a discount to stay here for 4-5 years.

I, too, hope that Lee is a Knick on a discount... but "hope he comes to senses?"

C'mon now.... think about what you're saying

BklynKING · Post #11 » by **BklynKING** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 6:51 am

This would be great if it came true. Hopefully some team would be willing to take Curry...adding Lee to the transaction might do some help, so i'm glad he might stay. We get rid of that fat piece of shyt by any means necessary....even if Lee or Nate have to be traded mid-season (hopefully that won't be necessary).

blueNorange · Post #12 » by **blueNorange** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 6:53 am

great, gimmick wonder is back ... sorry gallinari looks like you'll be getting ignored by the overrated elf once again.

D Kakes · Post #13 » by **D Kakes** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 7:12 am

blueNorange wrote:great, gimmick wonder is back ... sorry gallinari looks like you'll be getting ignored by the overrated elf once again.

If it takes signing DaWhite Howard to package him with Eddy Curry, so be it... and although he'll be taking minutes from other guys, he'll still be productive... showcase DaWhite and Cupcake Curry....

D Kakes · Post #14 » by **D Kakes** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 7:16 am

D Kakes wrote:
blueNorange wrote:great, gimmick wonder is back ... sorry gallinari looks like you'll be getting ignored by the overrated elf once again.

If it takes signing DaWhite Howard to package him with Eddy Curry, so be it... and although he'll be taking minutes from other guys, he'll still be productive... showcase DaWhite and Cupcake Curry....

It should be mentioned that I love what DaWhite brings to the table, on the court and off the court... he seems like my kinda player :thumbsup:

I wouldn't be upset if he ended up with us, long-term, along the lines of $8-10M... only to show loyalty to a hardworking guy who was underpaid for years. I think $8-10M can be better spent elsewhere, now that we have more depth in the front court... but #42 is always welcome on my roster (at $8M).

But from an arm-chair GM standpoint? Package with Curry. Sorry, buddy... best of luck and congrats on a big pay day (whoever wants you at $12M).

DavidLeeFan_42 · Post #15 » by **DavidLeeFan_42** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 7:44 am

D Kakes wrote:
DavidLeeFan_42 wrote:Hope he comes to his senses and gives NY a discount to stay here for 4-5 years.

I, too, hope that Lee is a Knick on a discount... but "hope he comes to senses?"

C'mon now.... think about what you're saying

Haha yeah. I think some team will grossly over pay for him and he gets his wish.

nyknicks09 · Post #16 » by **nyknicks09** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 7:52 am

That would be great if it really happens but it hurts the Knicks in the long run cause D.Lee will have the ball on his side of the court as to where he wants to sign and how much he wants to get pay. Trading him before the trade deadline is going to be hard because it will be a 1/2 season rental and many teams won't offer us anything good for him. Lets just say that LeBron James or D.Wade won't consider signing with the Knicks if D.Lee doesn't return with the Knicks and vice versa which puts us in a critical situation. A lot of teams are going to be under the cap in 2010 and the Bulls seem to be a team that can snatch Wade or LeBron James away if one of them stays with its current team.
LeBron James, Bosh, and D.Rose or Wade, Bosh, and D.Rose can become a dynasty for a long time. Is going to be an interesting summer in 2010 so lets just hope that Walsh can get E.Curry back on track and hopefully we can get rid of him for a expiring contract.

Post #17 » by **vinnie_vegas69** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 8:03 am

I'd be more than happy to have Nate back for this season and then just letting him walk next year.

This might actually work for Lee - He stays at the QO, then next off season, if we don't relinquish his Bird rights, he counts against the salary cap for 300% of his previous season's salary, which would be $8.04 million, which would still give us enough money to sign a max free agent (even presuming Curry and Jeffries are still on the books).

Normally, teams renounce free agents' Bird rights to get more cap space, but because we'll be so far under the cap anyway, we can't actually afford to keep Lee's.

If we sign a max free agent, David Lee will probably want to re-sign anyway, so even after using our cap space, we could sign him over the cap with his Bird rights, and give him a decent chunk of change without worrying about jeopardising our cap space.

aq_ua · Post #18 » by **aq_ua** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 8:48 am

vinnie_vegas69 wrote:This might actually work for Lee - He stays at the QO, then next off season, if we don't relinquish his Bird rights, he counts against the salary cap for 300% of his previous season's salary, which would be $8.04 million, which would still give us enough money to sign a max free agent (even presuming Curry and Jeffries are still on the books).

Perhaps kosmo or someone could clarify this point:

Larry Coon wrote:Larry Bird, following the fourth season of his rookie scale contract (Below the league average salary): 300% of his previous salary

Larry Bird, except when coming off rookie scale contract (Below the average salary): 200% of his previous salary

David Lee would be coming off his 5th year in the NBA, and based off the qualifying offer. Therefore, wouldn't it fall under the second type of Larry Bird rights and his salary cap hold count 200%, not 300%?

Post #19 » by **duetta** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 9:36 am

I have to think that Walsh presented a rough number to Lee's agent, and that the problem at the moment is that Lee has been led to believe that he's worth significantly more than that number. Lee would be still be better advised to take Walsh's offer, and include an opt-out that allows him to reset his value two or three seasons from now.

Ayonick07 · Post #20 » by **Ayonick07** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 9:50 am

I'm so glad walsh played his hand so smartly, just encouraging lee to get a deal himself and then as nothing came back AS YET lee remains without which opens up flexibility later on down the road. Hopefully he re-ups to a long term deal after he proves that he is worth the money again.