NBA
Knicks’ Lee enjoys new offensive role
NEW YORK — David Lee will always consider himself a re-bounder and energy guy, but he knew there would be an opportunity to expand his role this season.
Anybody can be a scorer under Mike D’Antoni, even a guy who had averaged just 8.9 points in his first three years.
The New York Knicks forward had his second 30-point game of the season last week, raising his average to a career-best 15.4 points. On Saturday, he scored 15 in a 107-97 loss to Philadelphia. Yet the better his game gets, the louder the talk that he may have to take it elsewhere.
D’Antoni’s pick-and-roll offense creates plenty of openings for the screener to dart to the basket for layups, the way All- Star Amare Stoudemire got so many easy buckets in Phoenix.
“I saw what Amare was doing, and I’m not the player that Amare is, but at the same time I thought that I could [score more],” Lee said. “I played a lot of pick-and-roll in college and I thought that especially with [Chris] Duhon coming in here and his unselfishness, I thought I could be successful in that situation.”
Lee also is comfortable playing at D’Antoni’s preferred quicker pace, the way he did in college under Billy Donovan at Florida. But Lee’s improvement mostly comes from the way he has played in the halfcourt offense.
He has become much more consistent from the perimeter, confident enough to pop out for a jumper instead of always going toward the hoop. He’s been reliable inside or out, shooting 57.2 percent from the field to rank among the league leaders.
Lee followed a 24-point game Monday at New Orleans by going for 30 on Wednesday night against Washington. He had the best night of his career in November, a 37-point, 21-rebound game in a rout of Golden State.
“He’s really improved and he’s pretty confident and he’s got that little 15-foot jumper if you play off him,” D’Antoni said.
D’Antoni said Lee, also in the top 10 in the league in rebounding, would warrant All-Star consideration if the Knicks had a better record. Yet there is consistent speculation that Lee could be in his final days as a Knick by the time the break arrives next month.
Lee will be a restricted free agent this summer after the Knicks decided not to give him an extension before this season. With New York aiming to clear salary to be a major free agent player in the summer of 2010, it might not want to give Lee the huge salary he could command, and if not, may prefer just to move him before the Feb. 19 deadline to get something back in return.
Lee tries to ignore the frequent trade speculation surrounding him, enjoying for now the chance to expand his offensive role.
“I looked at it as an opportunity,” he said, “and I’m just trying to make the most of it.”
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