David Lee Heads To Boston In Trade

It is not surprising to see David Lee traded. After winning a NBA title with the Golden State Warriors, the franchise, who underutilized the power forward, promised to help him find another team in the offseason, according to ESPN’s sources.

And today, he was traded to the Boston Celtics for swingman — aka a player who can play both the shooting guard and small forward position — Gerald Wallace, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein.

David Lee Heads To Boston

Lee, who has been with the Warriors since 2010-11, lost his starting job to Draymond Green after suffering a hamstring injury prior to the 2014-15 season. He only started four of a possible 49 games, garnering 7.9 PPG and 5.2 RPG, which were both his lowest since his rookie season. And since Lee was owed $15.5 million for next year, which was simply too much money for a bench player, it was important to shed his contract.

“I’ve actually gotten to see kind of the other side of the NBA,” Lee said during a NBA Finals interview with the NBA Insiders on ESPN Radio. “I’ve always been the guy that’s out there for 35 to 40 minutes. I’ve never really, I don’t think, had the true respect for guys… [who] don’t get a chance to play very often and come out and produce on a consistent basis — I never knew how difficult that was.”

As for Wallace, he is a longtime journeyman that has played for six different organizations — Sacramento Kings, Charlotte Bobcats (Hornets),  Portland Trail Blazes, both New Jersey and Brooklyn Nets and finally the Celtics — prior to the Warriors.

Now, Boston owed him $10.1 million for next season. And since he was mainly a bench player in 2014-15, starting in zero out of a possible 32 games and suffering from a knee injury for majority of the year, it was important to get rid of that contract.

As for the specifics, nothing else has been revealed about the trade. It cannot be officially signed until Thursday.