NBA Trade Rumors: David Lee Demanding Boston Celtics Move Him

NBA trade rumors are suggesting David Lee is tired of sacrificing his minutes and statistics, and he wants Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge to find him a new home in the National Basketball Association, according to northeast division of Comcast SportsNet.

When the Golden State Warriors decided to go with a small ball lineup by putting Draymond Green, who only stands 6-foot-7-inches, against bigger and slower big men, David Lee willingly sacrificed his minutes, which earned him praise from around the league by general managers seeking professionalism and won him his first NBA Championship.

Due to their desire to find him a new home in the NBA, and wanting to save some money from their salary cap, the Golden State Warriors dealt David Lee to the Boston Celtics in exchange for veteran slasher Gerald Wallace and Chris Babb, a 6-foot-5-inch guard who is now playing professional basketball overseas in Germany.

While playing for the New York Knicks, David Lee proved that he was capable of putting up 20 points and 10 rebounds in games, but the Boston Celtics weren’t interested in him being that much of a producer on their team, instead preferring to develop the younger players so that their future can be brighter than it currently is.

Up until December 2015, David Lee was averaging around 15 minutes a game, which meant that he was a rotational player, but January saw the 6-foot-9-inch forward playing just a total of 26 minutes during a stretch that saw the Boston Celtics playing 15 games so far.

In fact, it has been ten straight games since David Lee last stepped on the court for the Boston Celtics, which was a game against the Memphis Grizzlies where the former Florida Gators star missed ten out of a possible 12 shots.

The odds of Brad Stevens, who has done a much better job than most people thought he would when Danny Ainge hired him from Butler University, putting David Lee back in the rotation are pretty slim. It makes sense for the 32-year-old Missouri native to want to find another NBA team that will let him play.

The Miami Heat have been currently going through a slump and desperately need something to break them out of it. They could possibly send Luol Deng, who would replaced in the starting lineup by rookie Justice Winslow, and serviceable veteran big man Josh McRoberts to the Boston Celtics in exchange for David Lee, whose skills set matches up well with Chris Bosh.

Another possible trade involves the Philadelphia 76ers, a team desperately looking for some veteran leadership and offensive production, where David Lee could be swapped for Carl Landry straight up because the team has enough cap space to absorb the $15 million salary that Lee is currently being paid.

Since Blake Griffin has irritated the front office by breaking his hand during a fight with someone on staff, it would not come as a shock if the Los Angeles Clippers were to agree to take on David Lee, who can still provide enough offense to be useful to their playoffs hunt, and a multitude of draft picks that the Boston Celtics have been hoarding over the past several seasons.

The Los Angeles Lakers would like to win a couple of more games for Kobe Bryant, who is retiring from the NBA after the regular season ends, and they have been disappointed with Roy Hibbert as their starting center, so they might be inclined to upgrade by adding the offensive punch of David Lee to keep the scores a bit closer.

David Lee needs to leave the Boston Celtics, and there might be a new NBA home waiting for him.

[Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images]