According to Marc Stein of ESPN, the Boston Celtics have agreed to a trade that would send forward Gerald Wallace to the Golden State Warriors for former All-Star forward David Lee.
Lee was acquired by the Warriors in 2010 via a sign and trade deal with the New York Knicks, and was an All-Star contributor, posting big numbers and grabbing boards. He started on the Warriors teams that didn’t achieve much success, but he performed excellently, and was an All-Star in 2013.
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He lost his starting role to Draymond Green after a hip injury sidelined him for 25 games early in the season. Coming off the bench, he averaged almost career low stats of 7.9 points per game, and 5.2 rebounds per game.
The Celtics gave up veteran Gerald Wallace, who has been nothing more than a locker room leader, only averaging 1.1 points per game in 8.9 minutes per game. However, Wallace is being paid $10 million per year, and Lee is being paid $15 million. This might be a hindrance if the Celtics want to pursue more players in free agency, but it is an expiring deal.
All in all, the Celtics got a quality player, who might be able to revert to his All-Star form of years past, who can bring depth and great teamwork to this team. Lee was by all accounts very friendly and helpful to younger players, and was a class act after being moved to the bench, even when losing most of his minutes to Draymond Green.
This is a great deal for the Celtics who made something out of nothing, trading a bench warmer who was out of the rotation, for a player who was key during the Warriors’ championship run.
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