Knicks and Lee Can’t Agree

The Knicks and David Lee are not only not on different pages, they aren’t even in the same book.  There were talks of a sign-and-trade but nothing other than rumors have come of that.  There were also talks of Lee coming back to the Knicks on a one-year deal but the two sides can’t come to reasonable terms.  Now it looks like Lee may hold-out.  According to the New York Post, David Lee’s agent Mark Bartlestein says they are considering it, although they hope it doesn’t come down to that.

Hold-outs are most common in the NFL.  Leave it to the Knicks to make hold-outs the new thing in basketball.  The Knicks aren’t going to give Lee a long-term deal and use a substantial amount of cap space on him when the coveted 2010 free agent class is in sight.  They should find a suitor for a sign-and-trade or  come up to Lee’s asking price on a one-year deal when it doesn’t matter how much cap space it eats up in 2009.  If Lee and his agent are serious about a hold-out, the situation is going to get much uglier.  The Knicks need to solve it before it dissuades stars from coming to the Knicks in 2010.  Save face Knicks, get Lee signed or sign-and-trade him.