I looked at Courtney Lee over at Forbes.
The 6-foot-5 Lee would be an excellent fit on the Rockets, a team in search of a replacement for recently departed Trevor Ariza. Lee shot 40% from deep in each of the last two seasons, and 40% from deep in his two seasons with Houston back in 2010 through 2012. Lee also shot 92% from the free-throw line last season, so he is a tremendous late game option.
I consider Lee the least likely of all of the wing candidates, mainly because his $12 million salary really isn’t that much of an albatross for a useful player. At 32, he obviously does not fit the Knicks’ current Porzingis-centric timeline, but I don’t see them taking back Ryan Anderson’s $20 million contract, even if it allowed them to dump another player and get back a pick. But I could be wrong.
Lee was one of my most favorite Rockets ever, for no other reason than the fact that he replaced one of my least favorite Rockets (at the time) ever, in Trevor Ariza. Go figure. Those of you who have been around for the long haul remember that the first iteration of Ariza was quite different a player than what we saw in this recent stint. I’m never one to fault anyone for self-betterment and ambition but his carpe diem frame of mind was cringe-inducing. He’d call for the ball and make some awkward move in traffic and get stuck. Lee was the total opposite – always played within his abilities. It was a breath of fresh air.
But as I said above, this isn’t really a likely target. At 6’5, he doesn’t have the length or height to be too useful defensively against Kevin Durant. If they strike out though on their main targets, I’d check here rather than running it back with Ryno.
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