The basketball gods have frowned upon the New York Knicks once again. Their All-Star, Kristaps Porzingis – the lone bright spot of the franchise – is now out for the season, and probably for a whole year.
It’s a frustrating and unfortunate incident that will give the team much deeper problems, both offensively and defensively. Porzingis paces the team in scoring and also has a league-leading 2.4 blocks per game this season.
With that, athletic guard Courtney Lee has further emerged to be the Knicks player that will likely be moved come Thursday's trade deadline. He has over $37 million on his contract, which expires in 2020.
Knicks insider and ESPN writer Kevin Pelton have long inserted Lee's name into possible trade scenarios, and he reiterated his take Tuesday:
“One more way the Knicks could create 2019 cap space would be trading shooting guard Courtney Lee for a player with two years remaining on his contract. I've suggested previously that Lee is a good sell-high candidate because he's making a career-best 42 percent of his 3-pointers. If New York isn't going to win next season, that's all the more reason to trade Lee now, since he'll become less desirable to other teams as he ages and his salary increases.”
The 10-year veteran belongs to the group of players deemed to provide good outside shooting and defense – also known as “3-and-D” guys. In fact, it's pretty arguable that he is one of the best among anyone with such style of play.
Along with currently leading the team in steals, Lee is averaging career-bests 13.3 points and 1.6 made threes per game on the season.
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