As good as Kevin Martin's been playing right now, Lee's around the same level and I absolutely feel sorry he's being made to play with the mess of a second unit we have, right now. His skills are gonna dull. Rotate him with Kevin as the starting two and let him get some burn with the other starters.
What do you base this on? Kmart's already had 3 straight 20+ pts game on the team, did Lee ever reach 20 pts in his career? Lee's a decent player but Martin is a level or 2 above him.
Yes, he has and he can break double digit scoring easily. He's been productive on every team he's been on. He has range out to the three point line and has above average defense. He's highly coveted by other teams. Chicago thought he could start for them last year.
Lee is not in the same class as KMart in terms of impact. But neither is he used optimally as the bench player. It would make the team better if we replaced KMart with a similarly skilled SF that start alongside Lee rather than ahead of him. But given a choice betwen Lee and KMart, the comparison's not close. FWIW, Courtney Lee was one of the reasons why I loved the Gasol trade so much. Because I felt the downgrade at SG was as minimal as one can expect given the caliber of KMart as a player. I still think it would be best served for one of them to be traded eventually.
Courtney Lee and Kmart are streak shooters...but the similarity ends there. If shooting well Courtney Lee will score 10+ points...on the other hand KMart will score 20+ points if he's shooting well lol based on his ability. And Kmart usually has a longer streak than Lee lol.
It also doesn't make sense. You only rotate if the sgs are equal, I think everyone should by now that Kmart is better than Lee, esp. since he's also started playing defense properly. Honestly I'd rather just bench C-bud and play Lee at the sf. He can guard sfs well. IMHO, the best option is to do a consolidation trade of Lee and C-bud for an SF...I'd probably ask Dallas if they'd be interested in a Odom+2nd round pick for Lee and C-bud deal. Odom can guard the Lebrons and AIs in the league, and while he is a bit fruity I trust Mchale to get the most out of him.
How about Lee and Martin at the same time. I mean let's face it, wing players at the 2 or 3 are going to give Martin and Bud problems most nights right? Well the last couple games, besides Dalambert, McHale has subbed Lee in for Bud rather quickly. I think to close out games they can play on the floor together as well and important stretches. But to offer that he should start instead of Martin, you had too much to drink last night hoss.
I completely agree but if you start Lee and Kmart......i presume Kmart will cover the opposing 3 and he will get completely obliterated every night. Something must be done though in order to get an impact from the 3 position on a nightly basis. Gotta make a trade. I say trade Lee and get someone that can step in and play the 3 asap.
I really don't think C.Lee skills will "dull" playing on the second unit. I do think C.Lee is a better over all player for us going forward, and contract is up this year. Some burn with the ones would be nice to see. If K.Martin keeps playing at this level his value will be through the roof and will be traded for other team needs. Then C.Lee will get the run we are both looking for. My thoughts are based on the fact DM the GM has held on to Lee and has traded Martin in the past. a thought please bear with me if player were cars Martin would be a dragster with big slicks that does one thing really well go super fast but can not turn at all. He is a wonderful dragster one of the best at what he does. Lee is the new Camaro SS nice faster car. Yes, there are even faster cars on the street but it is a very nice all around daily driver.
Absolutely not!! Martin is an offensive machine...one of the top shooters in the league. He is very under rated here. Watching him at the game last night, his defense was adequate, not outstanding but adequate. He fits this team like a glove.
Kevin Martin's defense has actually been a little better this year. Its only been a coupla games. But anyway, doing something like that completely kills rhythm and flow and would screw up chemistry.
I like lee but he is so overrated on this board! He plays pretty good D but for the most part he gets a nice play every now and then and that's about it.
Cutting into Martin's time would be silly, but Lee is so much better than Bud on defense that it makes up for the two-inch height disparity. I wouldn't mind if they started Lee and just let him guard whichever opposing wing is the more dangerous scorer.
Martin should be moved before the deadline while he's healthy and his value is where it is. (in the right deal.... for a talented big or a stud 3, maybe a high pick if we head deeper into full rebuild) Lee plays tough D, can get to the rack and finish, along with the ability to hit the jumper in the flow when right. CL's already proved both in Orlando and here that given enough talent around him that he can get it done. And we get value back and cut salary at the position .....
First and foremost, like the poster I quoted said, it's never been done so an argument against it like "only rotate if the sgs are equal" doesn't exactly hold water. I agree with meh that trading them for a small forward of roughly the same talent is the best option but let's look at it, as is. You have two starting calibur SGs and only SGs. Neither of them can play SF. You'd want to keep both of them involved. This isn't a knock on Martin. This argument actually has weight. Their games are a lot alike - they're both shooters. Even before they were teammates, they trained together.
I'll give the OP some credit for outside the box thinking. The idea seems to be that you start Lee so that he can get some play in as a starter with that unit. His numbers in theory would increase... and then you bring Martin in (kind of as a 6th man I guess) and he would make the second unit better. But there are a few things wrong with this theory IMO: 1) It's not broke, so don't fix it. Martin is averaging around 25 a game these last 3 games (a back to back to back and all of them against pretty solid defensive 2 guards). But also, the bench isn't struggling to score. 2) Martin is better than Lee. I don't know if you were trying to imply otherwise but I feel like I might as well plainly state it. And furthermore, it's who ends the games more than starts. Budinger has started 3 games and played 17 minutes, and then this last game was put in there for 30. You get more minutes by playing well. McHale has shown that he'll give more minutes to guys that are producing... and he's shown he's willing to give Lee minutes at the 3 as well as the 2 so he's going to have his chances.
