How much is too much?
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- July
- 28
I’m thinking Donnie Walsh is ready to move on without Stephon Marbury, and he’s exploring a number of ways to move Zach Randolph.
There’s no hurry to act in either case.And he’s got a couple of months to decide what to do with David Lee and Nate Robinson, who are both eligible for contract extensions. It doesn’t appear the conversation with either part has really gotten started. Walsh has to be careful in both cases not to disrupt plans to clear enough cap space by 2010 to pursue a marquee free agent.
The math is complicated.
And the degree of difficulty goes up if the Knicks overpay to retain Lee, who’s obviously got some value in this system. He can rebound with the best of them and is pretty good about finding a quick outlet. A consistent jump shot would make him a natural in the up-temp system Mike D’Antoni favors.
The energetic forward is also immensely popular in New York.
So what is Lee worth over the next four or five years? Can the Knicks really afford to fork over $9-plus million a season, which is what intangible players like  David West, Josh Howard and Tayshaun Prince get? Should he be paid like Udonis Haslem, who plays a similar role and pulls down $6.5 million a season? Since the Knicks drafted Damilo Gallinari to eventually play the power forward, perhaps Lee should be compensated like a role player.
Go ahead, put a number on it.Â
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on Monday, July 28th, 2008 at 10:23 am by Mike Dougherty.
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$45,000,000 over 6 years ($7.5MM/yr)
$5,940,624 in 2009-10
$6,564,345 in 2010-11
$7,188,110 in 2011-12
$7,811,875 in 2012-13
$8,435,640 in 2013-14 (ETO)
$9,059,406 in 2014-15
By including the maximum annual raise (10.5% of the first year’s salary) the Knicks would save almost $1MM in cap room in the LeBron summer.
How about front loading the contract? Some players would take the money then complain later when their salary goes down but Lee might not. Give him 12mil next year and drop it down when we sign Lebron, then back up the year after. After all, you only need to be under the cap for that year. Notice I said “when we sign Lebron” gawd, have I drank the koolaid or what?
Noooooooooooooooo. Knicks just traded Balkman to save about $1.5 million and open up some roster space. They could’ve gotten rid of Randolph and saved a ton of money and open up about two seats on the bench. (since he’s that fat)
Please dont put Lee in the same sentence with David West, that dude was a beast this year and way more than a intangible player. He was an Allstar. Lee is definetly worth somewhere in the 5 million range.
Lee is a role player. In a perfect world, he’s worth the mid-level exception. But with NBA GM’s setting outlandish market value on guys like Bogut, Biedrins, and Kwame Brown, I’d estimate Lee’s worth at around $7 million per season.
David Lee: $6.5 to $7.5 million a year (similar to Chris Wilcox’s, Udonis Haslem’s, and Drew Gooden’s deals)
Nate Robinson: $4 to $4.5 million a year (similar to Daniel Gibson’s deal)