Like lots of other Celtics fans I have been wondering about the rotation for next season.
I am a little confused why Danny traded Gerald Wallace for David Lee. Wallace was a player who was mostly content not playing and being a locker room leader. Lee is hoping to play significantly more minutes than he did last season at a clogged position on our roster.
I know Lee will potentially be an upgrade to some of our young guys but I would have been really excited to see PF minutes given to either Johnson, Sully, Olynyk, Jerebko, Small-Ball Crowder and especially to Mickey (who looks like part of our long-term future) over Lee.
I'd rather lose a few more games developing Jordan Mickey than play David Lee.
I like David Lee, I have nothing against him, I am just confused. How will Brad Stevens keep all these guys that play at PF happy with their playing time? Maybe there will be a trade? Wouldn't it have been easier just to keep Wallace who was also on a cheaper contract?
Apologies if these comments have been mentioned elsewhere.
A few reasons I can see for the trade.
1) Boston is a winning franchise, and Danny's intention always was to make the 'tanking' time as brief as possible, and move in to win-now mode ASAP. After making the playoffs last year, this team has moved firmly into 'win now' mentality. That doesn't mean Danny expects us to win a title or even compete, but it means that Danny's first priority now is to make moves that are going to add wins.
2) David Lee is a former 20/10 guy (not that long ago, too) who may instantly be the best big on this team, and it cost us practically nothing to get him. He's the type of guy who will probably add wins, and any time you can get a pretty much free upgrade, you have to take it.
3) Lee is a veteran player who relied on pure effort to go from being a late first round pick to a multi-time All Star and an NBA champion. He's the ultimate mentor for team full of young guys (many of whom were late first / early second round picks).
4) Lee gives us rebounding and interior scoring (which we desperately need) and his passing skills make him a perfect fit on the team. He's basically Jared Sullinger without the horrible shot selection and conditioning problems - his skill set is useful to us.
5) Gerald Wallace wasn't playing, but was still taking up a roster spot. Instead of having two guys who will never play on our roster (Wallace and Babb) on our roster, we now have one guy who will play and contribute (Lee). That means we have an extra spot free so we can use on a young prospect - such as Mickey.
6) Jordan Mickey is highly, highly unlikely to ever be a star. He'll most likely develop into a solid rotation guy, but I don't see him ever being much more than that. Danny would rather have extra wins, than sacrifice those wins to develop a guy who
might become an average starter one day.