David Lee is expected to sign with Dallas for the room exception of $2.1 million once he clears waivers, league sources tell The Vertical.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 20, 2016
Boston was interested in trading Lee before Thursday’s trade deadline, but his $15.4 million salary didn’t make it easy. Lee, 32, was acquired by Boston in a trade with the Golden State Warriors last July. He played in 30 games for the Celtics this season, averaging 7.1 points and 4.3 minutes in 15 minutes of action per game. Lee fell out of the Celtics rotation over the course of the season, mainly due to the overhaul of younger bigs at Brad Stevens’ disposal.
As far as the Mavericks are concerned, adding a veteran and still rotational piece in Lee can only contribute to their efforts of staying afloat in the playoff picture. Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle has been putting the totality of his roster to use in that regard this season. The Mavs can certainly use the front court help, and Carlisle has flexibility to squeeze in minutes for Lee in accordance with Dwight Powell and Charlie Villanueva. Salah Mejri has been seeing the floor more lately as well.
Lee’s experience and skill set will grant him a slot in the Mavs rotation. He won’t eat up significant minutes from anyone else, but rather serve as another viable option on the depth chart.
