David Lee has nothing to lose. Sure, he’d like to stay in New York, but after the season he just had there is going to be demand for his services. He’s going to have options.
And because he has nothing to lose, he was pretty honest about the summer the Knicks face in an interview on ESPN 1050.
“I think I’d be pretty scared for the riding season ticket holders. It’s gonna be interesting. I think there’s two things that are certain. That there’s nothing better than winning in New York and then on the other side of the coin is there’s nothing worse than losing in New York. I’ve taken years off my life the last few years here dealing with losing and dealing with the media aspect of that and the fan aspect of it. I think that if I come back to New York, I want it to be on a winning team and I think it will be...
“The Knicks have had opportunities the last couple of summers with no competition to secure me long term and have decided to go a different route and do one year deals, which I completely understand. And Mr. Walsh went above and beyond the qualifying offer by four million or whatever it was to show good faith. I have no ill feelings to the Knicks and it’s been a great relationship for five years. But now it’s a matter of I put in the work for five years, I’ve gotten better and better, and now it’s about securing my future.”
There is no fault here, only a question. Lee is about to get his first big kick at the can. He wants a good one, can’t blame him. The Knicks need to keep their options available for a complete roster overhaul. We all get that. But does anyone really think the Knicks are going to land two players better than David Lee this summer? Is it worth the risk to let him play the field while you aim for people unlikely to leave their current, championship contending teams?
Okay, that was two questions. But they are valid ones.