While Courtney Lee would prefer to have the Knicks enter the season with serious playoff – or championship – aspirations, he’s willing to play the role of the veteran mentor on a young, rebuilding club, as Howie Kussoy of The New York Post details.
“When I first came in, I had guys like Mickael Pietrus, Keith Bogans, J.J. Redick, they did what I’m doing right now, they helped me a lot, they passed the torch to me, and it’s only right for me to do the same thing,” Lee said. “If that’s what’s asked of me, I gotta do that. Would I want to win right now? Of course. Everybody wants to win, but you gotta go through something to get to something, and that’s where we’re at right now.”
Lee also acknowledged that, at 33 years old, he’s not really a part of the Knicks’ young core and won’t have a guaranteed role if the team focuses on developing its young players. However, he believes he can still make an impact by being a “vocal leader” and a “player’s coach on the court.”
Here’s more on the two New York clubs:
- Echoing what we heard in September, Ian Begley of ESPN.com tweets that the Knicks are not expected to reach a rookie scale extension agreement with Kristaps Porzingis in advance of today’s 5:00pm CT deadline. Assuming that doesn’t change at the 11th hour, Porzingis will be eligible for restricted free agency next summer.
- Although the Nets didn’t gain traction in Jimmy Butler talks with Minnesota, they’ve already been “active in their pursuits of trades” this fall, as Shams Charania of Stadium details (link via NetsDaily).
- Rondae Hollis-Jefferson‘s status for the Nets‘ first game of the season on Wednesday has been up in the air, but the forward is “trending in the right direction,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said on Sunday, per Greg Joyce of The New York Post. “I’ll definitely listen to the medical team and the performance team,” Atkinson said. “We can’t play him 40 minutes that first night, obviously.”
- In a separate piece for The New York Post, Joyce takes a closer look at Nets second-rounder Rodions Kurucs, who is making a case for regular minutes to start his rookie season.
Much respect for Courtney Lee on accepting his new role, rather than complain about his probable lack of opportunities.
Lee is still a valuable commodity on the court. He’s an excellent 3 pt and FT shooter, doesn’t stop the ball, and can still defend the guard spots at a an above average level. He’s low maintenance. Knicks should not let him atrophy on the bench. If they want to go with younger guys, then they should move him. His age and contract might be issues, but shouldn’t be major ones. Just getting rid of the 2nd year salary, or most of it, would be sufficient compensation.
They should just move him. Playing time needs to go to the kids, and dumping the contract would be a bonus for the Knicks. As much as I am not a fan of Frank N., gotta let him play some crazy minutes to see if his ceiling can go any higher than what has been displayed so far. Lee is a good situational player off the bench, but at this time the Knicks won’t have many situations and he’d only be taking time away from others who may provide a future down the road.
I’m sure they’ll try to move him, but there’s no market right now, and he needs to get healthy and see enough minutes to maintain his value once he does.
Knicks generally mismanage these types of situations by talking too much to the media, and not enough to other teams. Lots of teams would like Lee, it’s the details of the contracts that will make or break a deal, and it takes work to find the best trade partner. Knicks aren’t known for it.