Robb: David Lee Hunting For More Playing Time With Celtics
By Brian Robb, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- After sacrificing most of his minutes to Draymond Green as a member of the Golden State Warriors last season, David Lee seemed genuinely optimistic to play in Boston during the 2015-16 campaign. The chance to suit up for a title contender vanished after the Warriors traded him away, but Lee believed he would have a chance to rebuild his value within a young Celtics frontcourt.
That scenario has not played out exactly as Lee had envisioned during the first month-plus of the regular season in Boston. The 6-foot-9 power forward was demoted from the starting lineup in the second week of the regular season and has been relegated to just 15 minutes of action per game off the pine for Brad Stevens.
The 32-year-old has not been glued to the bench as much as fellow opening night starter Tyler Zeller most nights, but the lack of minutes appears to be taking a toll on the former All-Star.
Lee spoke with The Boston Globe earlier this week about addressing the playing time situation with Brad Stevens.
"I don't accept (it), it's very frustrating, and the moment you start to accept it is when (you've) kind of stopped trying," Lee said. "While Coach can make any decision whom he wants to start or bring off the bench, my goal is to be a guy who's playing 20, 25 minutes, and I've had a meeting with Coach and told him that.
"And that's no disrespect to any other big (man) we have. But as a player I think everybody wants to play more and that's just having confidence in your own game."
Lee's 15.4 minutes per game would be a career-low, even worse than his 18 minutes per game last year during a frustrating year with the Warriors. Can the veteran make a valid case for more minutes though? That's an interesting debate, given Boston's logjam in the frontcourt.
On one hand, Lee's been efficient with his offense, shooting 51 percent from the field while averaging 6.6 points per game. His passing has proven to be one of the best assets within his offensive skillset as well, as seen in plays in like this:
https://vine.co/v/ia1BmzQj9ue
Those kinds of plays have not overshadowed Lee's shortcomings on the defensive end of the floor. He struggles with his athleticism against younger big men, something that is evident within his declining rebounding numbers and a defensive rating of 102. That's the worst defensive rating among all of Boston's four big men in the rotation (Jared Sullinger, Amir Johnson, Kelly Olynyk).
There's also the developing trend of Brad Stevens looking to play small more with Jae Crowder at the four spot. That lineup was a favorite for the head coach during last year's second half run, but the prospect of it also sharply reduces the minutes for bigs like Lee.
That's bad news for the 10-year veteran who is due to hit unrestricted free agency this summer for one of the final times in his career. He was already due to receive a sizable salary decrease from his current $15.4 million price tag in 2015-16, but it's tough to convince other teams you are worth big money next summer if you can't even earn major minutes on a mid-tier squad.
Despite his comments to the Globe, Lee has remained a good teammate to this point. Still, this will be a tricky situation for Stevens to navigate in the months ahead. The balance between trying to find winning lineups, and attempting to keep established respected players like Lee happy in the twilight of their career is a tall task.
The best hope for the big man is to show Stevens he's worthy of more minutes with his more consistent play on both ends of the floor. That will have to wait for another couple days though, as Lee has been ruled out until at least Wednesday due to a heel contusion.
Brian Robb covers the Celtics for CBS Boston and contributes to NBA.com, among other media outlets. You can follow him on Twitter @CelticsHub.
