New York Knicks: Five drafted players the Knicks failed to keep in NYC

5. David Lee

On 7/8/10 the New York Knicks acquired Anthony Randolph, Kelenna Azubuike, and Ronny Turiaf from Golden State in exchange for Lee.

As a fan favorite since he was drafted in 2005, David Lee was one of the Knicks smartest picks in franchise history. Lee’s best season was his fifth and final season in New York, where he averaged 20.2 points (career-high), 11.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists (career-high), and a steal while shooting 54.5 FG%, 81.2 FT%, in 37.3 minutes per game (career-high).

When Lee and his agent reached a decision for the Knicks to complete a sign-and-trade with the Warriors after his banner season, the Knicks were finally coming off their first winning season (42-40) since 2000-01, before losing in the first round of the playoffs.

In his five years with Golden State, Lee became an All-Star twice, was selected to an All-NBA team, and won a championship.

A couple of important factors to mention are first, that Lee was coming off three straight seasons playing 81 games before his deal to the Warriors. He showed his durability and potential to lead the Knicks in the right direction following their first playoff berth in a decade.

Lee did go on to be a durable player for a majority of his NBA career. The second factor is that newly-acquired Amar’e Stoudemire was acquired two days before Lee’s deal, immediately threatening his role on the team.

Many New York Knicks fans were upset with this trade when it happened. It got even worse looking back at how it worked out on New York’s end and how Lee made the correct decision for his career by joining the Golden State Warriors in 2010.