New York Knicks Agree To 4-Year Contract With Courtney Lee
The New York Knicks have agreed to sign journeyman 2-guard Courtney Lee to a 4-year, $50 million deal. Here’s what Lee brings to a Knicks team looking to compete in the Eastern Conference next season.
Phil Jackson and the New York Knicks may be one of the major winners of the 2016 offseason.
The Knicks kicked off the 2016 offseason with a bang by pulling off a blockbuster trade to acquire former MVP Derrick Rose from the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Robin Lopez, Jose Calderon and 2015 first-round pick Jerian Grant.
They followed that up by adding his former teammate and native New Yorker Joakim Noah on a four-year, $72 million deal.
The only position of need left for the Knicks to address was the shooting guard spot and, despite reportedly being in intense discussion with Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade, sewed that opening up by adding journeyman 2-guard Courtney Lee on a four-year deal worth $50 million, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders:
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Courtney Lee has agreed to a four-year, $50 million deal with the Knicks.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) July 2, 2016
Lee comes off of a season where he split time between the Memphis Grizzlies and Charlotte Hornets after being dealt at the trade deadline.
While his averages went down upon joining the Hornets, Lee impressed many by stepping up in their first round playoff matchup with the Miami Heat, specifically in Game 5 when he hit the go-ahead 3 with 25.2 seconds left to give the Hornets the win.
In agreeing to join the Knicks in the Big Apple, Lee will now have played for seven different teams in his nine-year career.
ESPN’s Ian Begley reports that the deal “would not have happened” if not for the purported signing of Noah, as the recruitment by the former All-Star center swayed Lee to choose New York over several other teams that had made offers to him.
Lee expressed his excitement about the move by hijacking a Bleacher Report graphic teasing a Wade-Knicks connection:
https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/749617525353218048
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In Lee, the Knicks complete their starting lineup with a player who’s consistently in demand due to his 3-and-D skills.
Lee boasts a career three-point percentage of .384 and shot .392 from the arc last season, which would’ve ranked third on last season’s Knick team that was 20th in the Association in three-point percentage.
He also adds more perimeter defense to a team that was surprisingly solid on that end last season, holding opponents to a 10th-best 101.1 points per game on a 10th-best .443 field goal percentage and a seventh-best .341 three point percentage.
With the additions of Rose, Noah and Lee, Jackson’s vision for the resurgence of a competitive Knicks squad within the hallowed system that is the triangle offense is finally rounding into form.
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After a two-year drought, the Knicks under Jackson’s regime are finally primed to be contenders in a competitive Eastern Conference.
With Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis still serving as the focal points of the team, Rose, Noah and Lee will all benefit the triangle offense in different ways.
Rose still possesses the blinding end-to-end speed to help the Knicks play uptempo and get easy buckets in transition. Noah is a savvy post player with a tremendously high IQ and a passing ability that is crucial to helping the triangle function properly.
Lee adds another shooting threat from deep that will help create opportunities for Melo and Rose to attack the basket while also creating wide open shots for Porzingis.
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If this is the last significant move the Knicks make, it will have been a successful offseason for Phil Jackson and company as they have helped New York’s befallen franchise return to both relevance and contention.