David Lee is leaving $2.3 million on the table after declining his player option with the San Antonio Spurs for next season, per Shams Charania of The Vertical.
This comes after a somewhat solid year despite playing limited minutes on a regular basis while being a fill-in starter in some occasions under coach Gregg Popovich. The 34-year-old veteran logged 18.7 minutes of court action, resulting to averages of 7.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game in 2016-2017.
As a starter, Lee was able to account for 11.8 points and 9.3 rebounds in 10 games, averaging 27.8 minutes during those contests.
While Lee has proven to be able to contribute in volumes on the scoring and rebounding departments, it’s highly doubtful that he can keep it up for an entire 82-game grind. There is good reason why the former Florida Gator has never managed to play more than 55 games in a season since the 2013-2014 campaign.
There will be suitors for David Lee once free agency officially commences, and a salary that is slightly above the one he just declined is still very much in play for the veteran big man. After all, he is a proven winner — an element that teams would want to inject in their dynamics.
As for the Spurs, they will be hard pressed to shore up their frontline after Pau Gasol, Dewayne Dedmon, and now David Lee have all decided to become free men this summer.
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