5 Potential Trade Destinations For David Lee

1. Utah Jazz

With Enes Kanter gone, the Utah Jazz can focus on the development of their frontcourt for the future, Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert. But as the third big off the bench for the Jazz, Lee could do some serious damage and help mentor a young locker room as a veteran presence.

According to Jazz reporter Spencer Checketts, Utah explored a David Lee deal with the Warriors right before the trade deadline, so the interest is clearly there, and who can blame them? It was only a season ago that Lee was slapping up an 18-9 on a nightly basis.

Lee would probably prefer to be a starter, but again, beggars can’t be choosers. He’s already won a title, so perhaps being further away from another title in Utah doesn’t matter as much as actually being on the floor. He wouldn’t log the kind of minutes he grew accustomed to during his prime, but even playing time as the first big off the bench would be an improvement from this past season.

Utah has plenty of cap room to take on Lee’s contract (only $47 million on the books in guaranteed money), and they could ship off the rest of Trevor Booker‘s non-guaranteed contract ($4.8 million) in a move that would be a great salary dump for the Warriors too. In terms of interest and workability, it’s hard to beat another potential Jazz-Warriors deal.

Next: Golden State Warriors: 10 Steps To Winning The Title

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