Dallas Mavericks: Why Courtney Lee can still be valuable to the Mavs

The Dallas Mavericks have a team that is looking pretty solid going into this year, largely due to their bench depth. One player that appears to be the odd man out could be beneficial to the team if he gets the chance.

The Dallas Mavericks have a bunch of players on the team this year that are going to be contributors, either in the starting lineup or coming off the bench. Some days, those players are going to switch, as Rick Carlisle has made it pretty clear that the Mavs plan as of now is to change up the starting lineup based on matchups.

This likely means we will get a chance to see a bunch of different guys start a few games, but not the majority. Players like Seth Curry, Maxi Kleber or Dorian Finney-Smith will probably not be everyday starters, but may see the court in the times when their skillsets better match the situation.

One player that it seems unlikely Mavs fans will see, even coming off the bench, is veteran wing, Courtney Lee. Lee is going into his 12th season in the NBA and is currently playing for his 8th different team. Despite pretty average numbers throughout his career, Lee managed to land a 4-year, $48 million contract with the New York Knicks starting in the 2016-17 season.

Now, much like Wesley Matthews (in my opinion), this contract is viewed as a terrible deal not because Lee isn’t a good player, but because he wasn’t worth as much money as he got. You can be a good basketball player and still be overpaid.

Unlike the Matthews situation, however, Dallas does not feel obliged to play the man they are paying $12 million for the next year. In the case of Wes Matthews, Dallas kept him in the starting lineup pretty much the entire time, but it never felt quite right. With Lee, the Mavs basically never put him in the game, which doesn’t feel quite right to me either.

Lee is a good basketball player and could be a good leader for a team that has a strong youth presence like Dallas does. He has played in a total of 50 playoff games in his career, the most by any player on the Mavs roster, and he even has an NBA Finals appearance from all the way back in 2008-09 with the Magic.

Despite the fact that Lee didn’t get much chance to show what he can do with the Mavericks last season, there are reasons he would be a good fit with the team. For one, he is a good three-point shooter. His percentage dipped last season, but the two years before that he was shooting over 40% from three. His career average is nearly 39%.

Lee is also a decent defender with a nose for the ball and the experience to not get beat on a regular basis. He wouldn’t be our best wing defender or our best wing shooter, but he can do both which is a little harder to find on the roster.

I think Courtney Lee should be a part of Carlisle’s rotation this season. Maybe last season was just a matter of not knowing the best way to implement three new players with just a small portion of games left, but with all this time to figure it out, I hope the Mavs realize that he can be helpful to the team this year.