The problem with a one year deal is the Knicks won't have bird rights on Lee as a FA next summer, which would affect how much they can offer him (essentially making it a one year rental). And if he signed say, a 9 million dollar one year deal, that 9 million would count towards the cap space unless they renounced his rights. So if they want to keep Lee longer, it needs to be a multi-year deal since he's made it clear he won't accept the qualifying offer.
Correct he'll become an unrestricted free agent and hope to cash in on next year's summer free for all. Unfortunately for David Lee his rookie deal expired in the wrong year and not many teams had the money to pursue him like he was expecting. The Knicks have listened to other teams willing to sign and trade, but they want to include Eddy Curry and/or not add any more salary past this upcoming season to preserve their cap space. Nothing favors David Lee at this point. Most teams are capped out, saving space for next summer, and the salary cap is going to drop further making it even tougher for him to get the $10+ million deal he wants. The Knicks also went ahead and drafted a cheaper, younger alternative in Jordan Hill who has a higher ceiling if he continues to develop and fills out that skinny frame. He has the size to be a true power forward in the league, where Lee is a tweener. I'm not sure most GMs are convinced Lee is worth the franchise money he's seeking and view him as a solid role player instead. His stats suggest otherwise, he was second in the league to only Dwight Howard in double doubles, but could he produce those same stats playing on a better team and a different system. D'Antoni's run and gun style really inflate a player's production because of the pace.
Lee was putting up a double-double off the bench before D'Antoni. His stats aren't too inflated. He's just getting more touches now that Randolph, Curry, Crawford, Marbury, etc. are gone.
Yeah he was, but the Knicks have been a lousy team all along. How much do you think he's worth and do you think the Knicks should re-sign him?
I think Lee is worth about $7M per season, but if Jordan Hill pans out well Lee is highly expendable, if not useless. Considering Lee (or his agent) want $10M+ a season, I doubt Lee will remain a Knick for long.
