David Lee has agreed to the deal with the Warriors

David Lee for Anthony Randolph/Azu/Radmonovic

edit: apparently Marcus Thompson has twittered that Lee has agreed to this deal, but who knows.

The latest now is coming from Marcus Thompson, who says if LeBron does not go to the Knicks, the Warriors and Knicks would then be very close on a trade of David Lee for Anthony Randolph plus filler (Tom Tolbert said he hears it will be Randolph/Azibuike/Radmonovic).

David Lee is a proven 20/10 guy, to pair alongside Biedrins on the block, gives immediate rebounding and hustle and a mean garbage guy.

Randolph has more upside, but Lee is an immediate impact player.

It's tough.... but I would do this. You?

Source:

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/67946/20100707/lee_for_a_randolph_could_happen_if_lebron_turns_down_knicks/

 

Re: David Lee for Anthony Randolph/Azu/Radmonovic

I wouldn't do it. Randolph has more potential and when he is given the time to play, he never gives up. The only one on the court going after every board and helping out on defense. I just don't think he wants to play for Nelson that is it. I don't know how David Lee is but I heard hes horrible at defense.

 

Re: David Lee for Anthony Randolph/Azu/Radmonovic

Lee made the All-Star team which is pretty hard. That means the coaches and GMs respect him (ask Monta about that). Getting a proven 20/10 guy for basically the 14th pick (Randolph) is not that bad. I was worried about that $13M/yr. but someone said its like trading Maggette's contract which makes it more digestible. Thinking about it that way makes me think its not a bad move. I'm thinking I'd rather trade Monta though.

 

Re: David Lee for Anthony Randolph/Azu/Radmonovic

I would do it. Warriors don't look they will be playing defense anytime soon, so why not get one of the best rebounders in the league? Him and Biedrins would be a mean combo on the glass. Randolph also won't work under Nellie, IMO.

 

Re: David Lee for Anthony Randolph/Azu/Radmonovic

This might sound hypocritical given that I was against Ellis for Lee, but I would be happy if this trade made it through in some fashion as reported. (Randolph + some combination of Azu, Turiaf, and Radmanovic seems to be the word on the street).

The type of move that trades potential for production is good for the Warriors because we need some respectability now. The team has been selling hope for the last decade, and never capitalized. From the "building a long-term championship team" point of view, the trade is bad; but in my mind, the best way to build a champion is to build through the draft, and we've been quite unlucky in doing so. From the "get some wins and get back into the playoffs" point of view, this is the type of trade I've been hoping for - we had seemingly tons of good role-players and young players, but couldn't ever get interest from a proven player or from other teams. For one, if this trade goes through, it means Lee actually wants to come to Golden State - he'd have to agree to the sign-and-trade. How many free agents have wanted to come here? The last one was Corey Maggette. And if we waited until 2011 free agents, our choices would have been slim anyway - David West was one of the forwards I would have targeted, and Lee is better than him; Horford, Marc Gasol, and a few other players were also possibly available, but Lee is at least comparable to them. I would have preferred to collect draft picks and expiring contracts, but we're not as skilled as Portland or Oklahoma's front offices, unfortunately.

I would rather give up Randolph than Ellis, because right now Randolph's mostly potential, and trade it for some veteran production. We could always move Ellis (or Biedrins) for another piece later; but this is the best value that we'll get for Randolph in my opinion in the next two years. Like I stated earlier, the long-term view, is that Randolph will become a better player. But, he's probably got 2 years before he really puts it together in my mind: one year of actually playing and starting to learn, and one year realizing his mistakes and fixing them (he may even need a change of scenery before he does so, though; he's got bad memories in Golden State). I said very recently that Lee was wrong for the team and would probably be a bad long-term investment, but in not trading Ellis, we would stock up players that other teams would at least inquire honestly about, whereas Randolph's value was all over the place.

 

Re: David Lee for Anthony Randolph/Azu/Radmonovic

On the flip side I feel sorry for Randolph; he's not going to learn anything positive from Amare. Only thing Amare is going to talk about is how rich he is and how Randolph needs to be flash to get "his."

 

Re: David Lee for Anthony Randolph/Azu/Radmonovic

Forget it, just read Lowell Cohn's blog and I agree with him, let's keep Randolph and keep building for the future. Lee is not going to be a difference maker this year or anytime soon.

Larry Riley, PUT DOWN THE PHONE!!!

 

Re: David Lee for Anthony Randolph/Azu/Radmonovic

In any case, I really doubt that this trade will happen because of the LeBron condition. I guess we'll find out tomorrow, but NY is the most likely destination for LeBron right now.

I also agree that Riley shouldn't be pursuing any moves at this point since the value of Randolph or Ellis likely will only go up. Plus, the new owner should really have a say in a decision this important. But I don't have a good feeling with Randolph blossoming as a Warrior because of how we've managed him in the past, despite the upcoming new ownership and leadership.

 

Re: David Lee for Anthony Randolph/Azu/Radmonovic

LOL, you have a severe case of ADD. I mean this in the most endearing way.

 

Re: David Lee for Anthony Randolph/Azu/Radmonovic

Really quick, I want to remind everyone about Lee's terrific post numbers, and then I want to touch on his basketball IQ below.

So, first off, the last 2 seasons (the two years where he has started most of the year), David Lee has averaged 11.7 rebounds each year. Basically that's 12 boards a year. First year he averaged 16 points / 11.7 rebounds. This past year, he averaged 20.2 points / 11.7 rebounds. The last 3 years, he has played 81 games each year. He has only missed 1 game each of the last three years. That's iron-man for you.

This is a legit 20 / 12 guy, with a career FG% of 56%. The last three seasons he has been in top 10 in FG% each year. This past season he was 4th in the league in double-doubles. Two years ago, he LED the league in double doubles, better than Cp3, Tim Duncan, Dwight Howard, etc. This past year he was 4th in the league in rebounding, and two years ago he was 3rd in the league in rebounding. He also shot 81% from the foul line.

Okay, now let's talk about his basketball IQ for a bit. Part of what makes Lee so special is his heady play around the basket. This guy is solid gold on the pick-n-roll, one of the best in the league at the play.

Not only that, he can pass out of the post. He averaged 3.6 assists last year. That's better than Corey Maggette, Anthony Morrow, Reggie Williams, and even CJ Watson.

In fact, David Lee's 3.6 assists per game ranked 1st among all centers last year (nba.com has him listed as a C), but get this: even including all forwards in the league, David Lee ranked 6th in the league in assists! The only Forwards in the league who had a better APG than Lee were LeBron, Igoudala, Josh Smith, Hedo Turkolu, and Boris Diaw.

Lee had a better APG than guys like Lamar Odom, Tim Duncan, Paul Pierce, Kevin Durant, Grant Hill, Dirk Nowitzki, etc. That's pretty damn impressive for a guy who is ALSO getting you 20 and 12.

He's not just a double double machine, this guy can play. He's a smart player who has an endless motor. I even think his defense is underrated. Because defense is effort, and that's something Lee will bring 100% of the time, no question.

I think Lee is underrated. If the talks are true, the S&T is around $13 mils a year. That is a STEAL compared to what other players (Rudy Gay anyone) are getting paid right now. Don't forget, he was an all-star last year. That's $13 mils for one of the best double-double guys in the league, an all-star 20 point scorer, one of the best assist-making big men in the league. Oh, and he's only 27 years old and just getting better. IMO, his all-around numbers are equal to if not better than Amare's, and Amare is getting nearly $20 mils? That's insane. David Lee is also an iron man, 81 games each of the last 3 years, what type of investment do you want to make in your franchise?

Here's a young, proven cornerstone who is set to be a star for the long haul. Randolph has a ton of potential, but he'll need to fulfill nearly all of it to equal what David Lee is doing in the league right now. Honestly, I think Lee is way underrated and this would be a steal for Golden State.


Oh. P.S. If there's one thing you need in a potential big man to complement Steph Curry, it's a guy who can run the pick-n-roll. Lee is one of the best in the league at the pick-n-roll and the dive cut.

Those two could form a Stockton/Malone tandem for the next 6 or 7 years.

 

Re: David Lee for Anthony Randolph/Azu/Radmonovic

The reason I don't like this deal is not easy to explain. It boils down to why I dislike the fat, dumb bastard Don Nelson.

I don't like Don Nelson because he has not developed Anthony Randolph and we do not know what we have. This sounds like the typical Warriors deal that we make and we end up sending a better player in return. The Knicks get the better deal because Lee is not as good as Amare. They end up with Amare teaching AR while we get David Lee teaching Udoh.

The other thing I dislike about stupid Nelson is he'll end up playing Lee at center and not AB with David Lee. That would be an interesting pairing imo. Nelson not playing AB may give cause for Riley to trade AB because who wants to pay a big salary for a backup player.

The whole idea was to build around a foundation. AB and Ellis were the foundation a few years ago, but things have changed because we haven't made the playoffs with them. Of course, we ended up trading players like Stephen Jackson and Jamal Crawford for peanuts which made AB and Ellis appear to be worth less. That brings me to another thing I dislike about stupid Nelson. He doesn't get along with key players, so we end up trading them for peanuts. He rather play guys like Corey Maggette or Devean George.

What we should do is go with the vets we have and see what they could do. This is AB, Brandan Wright and Azubuike. We have not even seen how this trio would work together, let alone Randolph. I don't want to make another trade because stupid Nelson can't get along with Anthony Randolph. Surely, the Knicks see something Nelson doesn't see.

I probably sound hypocritical because I would have traded Monta Ellis and Brandan Wright for David Lee and Wilson Chandler. This is because we have an idea of what Ellis can do. He's not going to be an all-star, but a near all-star. OTOH, Chandler would give us a big SG who can run and play D. In David Lee, we get a rebounder who can teach Anthony Randolph whom I think has a higher ceiling than Brandan Wright with the type of game the Warriors play. We lose BWright who can play inside and back to the basket, but I think the athletic AR and Udoh will do okay with dunks and put backs in transition. Brandan Wright is more suited for a pick and roll game like the Dallas Mavericks have. If we had a coach like Avery Johnson, then I wound think different. I may want to keep Wright.

 

Re: David Lee for Anthony Randolph/Azu/Radmonovic

I'm gonna throw my 2 cents in a little later after class (or maybe during class depending on how boring it is, haha) but I think it can work out very well for both sides.

 

Re: David Lee for Anthony Randolph/Azu/Radmonovic

Lee is the right guy if you can pry Sloan away from Utah next season. Otherwise, I'm not not big on Lee. That being said, if it's not a S&T, I like having him at his current contract. If it is a S&T it's still not the end of the world. I'd be very curious to see what kinds of deals this sets up with Beans and Monta at the trade deadline. If we go ahead and make the S&T deal, I say move everyone not named Curry.

I said when the rumors started about Cohan selling, keep Curry, move everyone, start over give me Ellison and I'll be happy with a throw away season. I'll stick by those words.

 

Re: David Lee for Anthony Randolph/Azu/Radmonovic

ADD or not, I'm going to stay on my last position and say NOOOOOOO!!!!

Not because Lee is not a very good player who I would enjoy playing with, but because I'm really worried about being saddled with his $13M/yr contract for years 3-6 (think Boozer is worth $16M in years 4-5? No.). There's freedom from that type of anchor right now. Let's not simply mortgage the future right now (look at our economy right now, that's how we got to this point, ignoring the future costs, okay sorry enough of that).

I really do not think that adding Lee will make the team that much better. Now if the W's can get a full year out of Randolph and Wright and see them develop? Save $13M plus get more potential.

 

Re: David Lee for Anthony Randolph/Azu/Radmonovic

I more or less like the trade.

But I really do not know a whole lot about David Lee as a player. My question would be, is he a legit star/impact player or is he more like a Troy Murphy with some inflated stats last season due to the lack of legit players the team had and the system he was in? He really does not block shots either, kind of like Murphy, but he does shoot a much better percentage than Murphy. Lee averages a little more in assists too. I don't like how little he gets to the free throw line as well with 330 attempts in 81 games in the last couple of seasons. Though I guess it is not that bad (much better than Murphy).

Overall I think Lee can help this team. I am just not so sure about paying him $13 million/year. Perhaps the stint we had with Troy Murphy is concerning me as if it may repeat by having such a contract with Lee. But I may very well be underestimating Lee, since as I initially said I do not know much about him. With the other posts I do think Lee could really solidify the starting lineup at least for the upcoming season. I'd like Curry/Monta/Lee/Biedrins as a core to work with for the meantime. I am just hoping he plays better defense than what his stats in blocking shots may suggest.

The risk we would face is Randolph developing into a star a la Jermaine O'Neal. But those are some risks you can take especially if you can get an all-star in return.

 

Re: David Lee for Anthony Randolph/Azu/Radmonovic

I'm not really worried about the money, especially in a few years. It's been proven time and time again that it's very possible to move bad contracts (Murphy, Dunleavy, Maggette, Jackson, etc.).

Until the Warriors reach a level of decency, there's no chance FA's of any significance will want to join the Warriors. We can speculate that the new ownership and Stephen Curry's continued success will change that, but we have 16 years of proof that no impact free agent will want to join the Warriors. Even college players don't want to be on the Warriors (refusal to workout).

So to get to the level of decency, it has to start with moves now.

 

Re: David Lee for Anthony Randolph/Azu/Radmonovic

Lee is much more athletic than Murphy. YouTube is your friend.

 

Re: David Lee for Anthony Randolph/Azu/Radmonovic

[video=youtube;D6YaO05SZ3o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6YaO05SZ3o&feature=related[/video]

I am not that impressed with this video. Clearly he runs the floor well and can dunk. It does not show off many other skills.

[video=youtube;iaENn-7t_hk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaENn-7t_hk&feature=related[/video]

This one is funny.

Reconsidering I really do like AR potential with his defense (as a PF), height, and athleticism. He has not been able to produce on the offensive end as David Lee has, but I think that is something that he can develop - just run, get put backs, and dunk.

I wouldn't be surprised if Randolph puts up 15+ points, 12 boards, and about 3 blocks per game if he were in New York playing minutes like David Lee got.

 

Re: David Lee for Anthony Randolph/Azu/Radmonovic

We need a NYK fan to give us a scouting report. I want to know if he boxes out. That's something the Warriors don't seem to do, ever.