Knicks swingman Courtney Lee is feeling a little better after receiving an injection to calm the nerve irritation in his neck, but it’s still not clear when he’ll be able to return to the court. As Steve Popper of Newsday writes, the team has struggled to diagnosis and treat Lee’s injury, which he describes as both a neck strain and neck spasms, but the veteran is hoping to get the go-ahead soon to do more than non-contact shooting drills.
Once Lee is ready to return, a regular role in the Knicks’ rotation isn’t a certainty, with the club focused on developing its younger players. However, while fellow veteran Enes Kanter hasn’t seemed entirely on board with his demotion to the second unit, Lee sounds ready to do whatever he’s asked by a team in the midst of a transition period, as Popper relays.
“That was a no-brainer, man,” Lee said of the Knicks’ decision to give their young players more minutes. “You look around the locker room, everybody is young. It’s not the team going young. It’s what we have. I’m a guy that’s just going to go out there, man, know my role, compete, help the team as much as possible, whether it’s leading vocally or by example. That’s my mindset: Is just to go out there and do whatever the team needs me to do.”
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Celtics guard Kyrie Irving received a $25K fine for throwing the ball into the stands at the end of Monday’s loss to Denver, the NBA announced today in a press release. Irving’s toss came after Jamal Murray took a last-second shot in an attempt to break the 50-point mark after the Nuggets had already secured the victory.
- The Sixers‘ rotation is in flux to some extent, with the team struggling to integrate newcomers Wilson Chandler and Mike Muscala as smoothly as they integrated Ersan Ilyasova and Marco Belinelli last season. As Sarah Todd of Philly.com details, injuries and a lack of defined roles for Chandler and Muscala have helped magnify those issues.
- In a mailbag for The Athletic, Derek Bodner examines T.J. McConnell‘s future with the Sixers, suggesting that he’s one of the more likely players on the roster to be traded this season. In Bodner’s view, it’s hard to envision McConnell having a role on the club beyond this season unless something goes “terribly wrong” with Markelle Fultz.
I wonder if something “terribly wrong” with Fultz would include that shot of his.
TJ isnt an otherworldly shooter. Fultz can handle the point, that is clear. Will he develop into a shooter? Idk, but right now, he looks like year 1 DeAaron Fox, Brandon Knight, along that ilk of true PGs that cant shoot well but can get to the basket and dish.
Lee is a class act, always has been, but it’s unfair to lump him and Kanter (who I think has also handled things with class) together as veterans. They are in different spots career-wise and contract-wise. Lee is 33, signed through next year, and wants out (to a contender or even pretender). Kanter is 26, playing for a contract, and wants to stay.
fultz should play a couple of games in the g league – work on his shot mechanics and build some confidence. it could save his season/career
Every player would be looking to bust him as the 1st overall pick. Hes just a guy right now.
Ilyasova & Bellinelli were already good at what they did for the 6ers– step in and fit in and hit shots. Muscala and Chandler have no such record, even if they have the skills.
6ers are lucky Redick felt like he owed them one.
McConnell isn’t going anywhere. They are just affording Fultz opportunity to cement his bust status. TJ is a good, cheap back-up who will be needed down the line. By game #40, Fultz will be glued to the bench or gone. McConnell will be playing 12-18 minutes. Korver will be playing off the ball.
AGREED!!
6ers NEED to swallow their pride, accept Fultz is a bust and trade him to Cleveland for Korver and a pick