Former All-Star center David Lee was traded to the Boston Celtics from the Golden State Warriors to have a bigger role, but with his new team, the big man has not really found that and is not even part of the rotation.
In Thursday's defeat to the Bulls, Lee did not play and in the two games ahead of that outing, was also unable to see action despite being healthy.
The reason for this is the same reason why the Warriors traded him, because of the small ball type of play.
"Coach [Brad Stevens] came to me and said we're going to try and go small at the 4, which means [more playing time for] Kelly [Olynyk] and Jonas [Jerebko]," Lee said according to a report by ESPN.
The 32-year-old also stated, "That was his theory on some changes he wanted to make after us losing a couple of games, so I told him while I disagree with it, I also told him he's the coach and can choose to do that."
Even before Stevens' new scheme, Lee has not seen many minutes and this season is playing a career-low 15.7 minutes per game.
Since the playing time dropped, his numbers went down as well as he only averages 7.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game.
Lee is unhappy with the current situation but said he will just work hard and what is important is the team winning.
Despite the status of his role, Lee believes he can help a team win hoping that would be the Celtics, also saying that he has not asked for a trade yet.
As the season progressed and with the Celtics being inconsistent, it is likely that Lee finds himself in and out of the rotation, but will not be given a solid playing role especially with younger big men emerging.
