Thursday, July 8, 2010

David Lee Heading to Warriors

According to his agent, David Lee has agreed to a sign-and-trade that will land him in Oakland.

The Breakdown
This is a great place for Lee to land. A lot of people were worried his numbers would dip if he landed on a team that played a slower pace. With Golden State, Lee will remain on an uptempo team where he fits in most likely at the PF spot next to Andris Biedrins, though he could end up playing a lot of minutes at C like he did in NY if Golden State elects to go with a small line up. I expect Lee to continue putting up the lines he did in New York.

Early word is that Anthony Randolph, Ronny Turiaf, and Kelenna Azubuike are heading to the Knicks. The trade frees up minutes in the front court that either rookie Ekpe Udoh or Brandan Wright will likely inherit. The thing about Warriors' coach Don Nelson is that he is very erratic and unpredictable with his rotations. A guy could play 30 minutes one night then not get into the game the next night. Depending on how the rotation looks in the preseason, Udoh or Wright could be decent guys to gamble on with your late pick. I particularly like Udoh if he can carve himself a consistent role on the team as his athleticism fits perfectly into the Warriors style. Additionally, he's a great shot blocker and that's hard to find in today's NBA. I'm also curious to see who ends up starting at the SF since Corey Maggette has also been moved this offseason. You definitely want to keep an eye on the Warriors starting line up as their fast pace allows virtually anyone who gets significant minutes to be a fantasy factor. Just look at all the D-League call ups who had big games last year.

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