New York Knicks Midseason Grades By Position: Shooting Guard

The Knicks paid a pretty penny for Courtney Lee in free agency this past summer. The Knicks and Lee agreed to a four-year, $48 million deal. They had hoped that Lee would be the final piece for their starting lineup; a knockdown three-point shooter that would improve the defense.

Half of that has been true thus far. Lee has knocked down three-pointers at a strong rate. He is making 41.9 percent of his shots from long range this season, which is tied for 14th among shooting guards. He is averaging 9.5 points per game, making 43.9 percent of his shots with an effective field goal percentage of 52.1.

But, his defense has fallen off this season. That could partly be due to how poor the Knicks are as a whole, but Lee has struggled as well. Lee’s defense rating on Basketball-Reference is a career worst 114; NBA.com has him at 108.6 with a -3.1 net rating.

The Knicks are the same with or without Lee on the court; they have a -3.1 net rating when he is off the court as well, with the offensive and defensive ratings each dropping by about 1.1. What Lee does bring that is not able to be quantified in numbers is a veteran presence.

Lee was moved to the bench this past week in favor of Ron Baker. He made an Instagram post that seemed to be taking a shot at the coaching staff for the move, but he has said all the right things in the media. Lee is the consummate professional and will do whatever it takes to help the team win. With the second unit, we should see him be more aggressive offensively and hopefully get things back on track defensively.