<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Free agent David Lee has agreed to a two-year deal with the San Antonio Spurs, league source tells The Vertical. Second year player option.</p>— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/758781858310041600">July 28, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Great pick up by them. Looks like SA will have another solid big man rotation. Gasol replaces Duncan. Lee replaces West.
Dude will contribute way better than West last year. West could not hit any shot. He was a blackhole.
If SA has the cap space next offseason this would be a great move for both. Aldridge, Westbrook, and Leonard could definitely compete with GSW until the end of Aldridge's career.
This guy is a proven non-factor in playoffs. One of the most overrated players ever. Check this out: Playoff games missed: 2013 GSW: 6 DNPs, 7 games played, but 1 game = 1 minute played, another = 3 minutes played, and another = 7 minutes 2014 GSW: Played all 7, but lost 1st round 2015 GSW: 8 DNPs, 13 games played, but 8 of them under 5 minutes 2016 DAL: 3 DNPs, 2 games played And if you're wondering why I only show his past 4 playoffs years, it's because he never made the playoffs any other years.
Don't underestimate Pop's ability to turn lemons into lemonade.David Lee is a great offensive player, his weakness is defense. If any team can minimize his bad D, it's the Spurs. I'm also willing to bet he's making a fraction of what other bench players are getting this offseason. Anything under 5 million is a steal. People can underestimate Lee all they want, just don't underestimate Pop's ability to utilize him.
Plus, defense is overrated when its coming off the bench. You want offense more than defense from bench players.
There are plenty of cases where Pops got a so-called big name FA and wasn't able to get them to buy in -- Richard Jefferson comes to mind. In fact, that's one of his past weaknesses. He was always better going with the Big Three and rejuvenating role players than taking wanna scoring all stars and turning them into role players. Pops is a systems coach not a players coach If David Lee does not buy into the defensive scheme, Pops won't play him, especially in the playoffs where he notoriously gets benched by three different coaches. Last two being top 5 coaches in the league -- Carlisle and Kerr
Even if he gets only used in the RS, it means more rest for the other players. People underestimate rest.
+ Dedmon (quality bruiser similar to Chris Birdman Anderson), Bertans (sharp shooting big similar to Ryan Anderson), Murray (rookie with all star potential)
They would just need another three point shooter. WB v. Curry Leonard v. Durant Aldridge v. Green Danny Green v. Thompson + the storyline and it's worth it for the league In three years you'll have new ring chasers to add to the mix: CP3 Melo Wade Bosh (?) Al Jefferson Marc Gasol Rudy Gay JJ Redick Top three will probably join LBJ