Knicks brass will do the right thing tomorrow night and show lots of love for David Lee with an expected video tribute upon his Garden homecoming with the Warriors.
The question is, did Knicks president Donnie Walsh do the right thing by not showing him any love in July when their most popular player became a free agent?
Once Walsh lavished Amar’e Stoudemire with a $100 million contract, Lee was off the board, even after LeBron James spurned them.
After “The Decision,” Walsh immediately put in motion a sign-and-trade with Golden State and picked up Ronny Turiaf, Anthony Randolph and still-rehabbing Kelenna Azubuike. Lee, who is averaging 12.3 points and 11.4 boards and shooting 42.5 percent after Golden State’s 109-102 victory over Toronto last night, signed for six years, $80 million.
Asked if Lee and Stoudemire could have played in the same frontcourt, Walsh said yesterday: “He probably could [have], but he wanted what he got. We couldn’t have done the same thing if he [signed for] that, and fill out the whole team. We needed more than just one player. It would’ve restricted what we could’ve done.”
Had the Knicks signed Lee for his starting salary of $10.8 million, they still may have had just enough to land Raymond Felton, but not Timofey Mozgov, Roger Mason Jr. and the Golden State trio.
Privately, Lee and his agent, Mark Bartelstein, were stunned the Knicks went gaga over Stoudemire, who has had some down moments across the first six games, adjusting to the double coverage, averaging 4.7 turnovers.
But the Knicks, who face the Bucks tonight in Milwaukee, are 3-3, at .500 — a place Lee almost never was in five losing seasons as a Knick.
D’Antoni was overly complimentary of Lee yesterday after being steamed that his quote in The Post about the team’s improved shot-blocking and interior defense was construed as a possible dig at Lee’s defense.
On Sunday, D’Antoni said: “I don’t think it’s not a matter of playing hard, just athletically, we got 7-footers who are very athletic. We used to have 6-8 guys who weren’t athletic. Turiaf came to us as a shot blocker. Mozgov is 7-1. Amar’e blocks shots. Chandler always did. We just have better athletes and taller people. It allows us to play faster. It’s not a knock on the other group. They played hard. They weren’t athletic enough.”
Lee, the team’s former undersized center, was listed at 6-foot-9, but is actually 6-foot-8.
“I don’t want to take another shot at him,” D’Antoni said sarcastically. “David Lee is great. He’s an All-Star. We took him from bench player to All-Star, making an unbelievable amount of money. I’m so happy for him. Why would I take a shot at him?
“I love David,” D’Antoni added. “I think his game’s great. We tried to get LeBron, all those free agents. We couldn’t do it. But David Lee for us was super and he’ll be super Wednesday night. We made the best deal we could make under the circumstances.”
In a recent published report, Lee lamented Walsh didn’t call him once after July 1.
“There wasn’t a reason to call him, I couldn’t do it before Stoudemire,” Walsh said. “I did do a sign-and-trade with him that allowed him to get what he got. I talked to the agent. I never talk to the player.”
D’Antoni added: “To keep it open for two, three players we thought maybe would get LeBron James, mathematically, with his cap hold, it wasn’t possible. He knew that. Everybody knew what the plan was. We had to execute the plan. Would we have wanted him back? Sure. It just didn’t work out totally.”
Turiaf has been a defensive, shot-blocking boon, Randolph a disappointment but with potential, and Azubuike is not being counted on as a sure thing to return to prior form because of major knee surgery a year ago. But the key is none of the trio has a long-term pact as Walsh wants to be under the salary cap for Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul.