Danny Ainge is still reaping dividends from the Pierce and Garnett deal two years later. The latest dividend coming in the way of David Lee. How you may ask? Well, let's revisit a brief path to this steal I believe Danny engineered.
Back in June of 2013, Danny broke up the 2nd generation of the Big Three completely by trading Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets for three first round draft picks: 2014, 2016 and 2018 respectively and a number of expiring contracts, one of which included Gerald Wallace's 10+ Million a year albatross of contract over three years.
This past summer, Danny traded Gerald Wallace (and Chris Babb) to the Defending Champion Golden State Warriors for David Lee, which after an injury spell last year, felt was replaceable by the emerging Draymond Green.
Gerald was at most a strategically played phenomenal inbound passer and more or less a cheerleader for the Boston Celtics last year. David, albeit a second teamer last year played in 4 of the 6 Finals games.Gerald played less than a third of the minutes David did last year. Clearly the Celtics got an upgrade both on the offensive and defensive side of the ball and where they needed it most: at rebounding.
However, I did a little more digging on David Lee at Basketball reference.com and found a surprising comparison to no other than Dwight Howard of the now Houston Rockets. They are extremely close in virtually every category. To do my best to compare apples to apples, I chose the 08-09 and 09-10 year where they both played the center position for their respective teams:
I don't believe many people feel Lee is in the same category as Howard but numbers don't lie. Howard makes 22.3M this year where Lee looks to make 15.5M in a contract year with something to prove and in a prime position to cash in on the increased salary cap to come with the new TV deal.
David Lee has looked good in his first two preseason games in Italy, amassing a double-double in the second. This could be another steal for Trader Danny.
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