thedcdime

By: Bohlin

According to Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports the Wizards are one of the teams that have shown interest in newly unrestricted free agent guard Courtney Lee.

Personally, I would love to see the Wizards go after Lee so that he could help shoulder some of the burden at SG from rookie Bradley Beal. Having Lee in DC would allow Beal to come off the bench in a 6th man role, a la James Harden in OKC, as he becomes acclimated to the NBA game.

Also, it would allow the Wizards to go small with a line up featuring Wall, Beal and Lee on the floor at the same time. Flanking two more than adequate shooters alongside a burner PG like John Wall would open up the lane for him to do what he does best; Penetrate the lane to score or find the open man after reading the defense.

While we may be interested in bringing Mr. Lee to Washington there has to be interest on his end as well for this rumor to evolve into a legitimate possibility. It was originally reported that the teams that would pursue Lee were the Clippers, Bulls, Pacers, Mavericks and of course our Washington Wizards. With the Clippers signing Chauncey Billups and Jamal Crawford today you have to assume they’re now out of the Courtney Lee sweepstakes.

That leaves us with the Bulls, Pacers and Mavericks as our top known competition. Realistically the Wizards could offer Lee their full MLE (Mid-Level Exception for those unfamiliar with the jargon of NBA Free Agency) which is roughly $5 million per year over the duration of the contract.

The Pacers just gave George Hill a contract worth $40 million. They also have a decision to make as to whether to max out Roy Hibbert. So it is not certain how much they would invest in a player who fills a similar role to Hill.

The Bulls and Mavericks are in the same boat. They are both legitimate contenders who could use a player like Lee but at what cost? I’m not convinced they would be able, or willing for that matter, to throw the full MLE at Lee like the Wizards could.

It is still far from a lock that Lee ends up with the Wizards. However, the odds got better today with the Clippers effectively dropping out of the race for the former Western Kentucky Hilltopper. Check back to The DC Dime for more coverage on the pursuit of Courtney Lee as well as other free agency news concerning the Wizards as it happens.

Tags: chicago bulls, courtney lee, Dallas Mavericks, Indiana Pacers, nba free agency, Washington Wizards