Lee now emerging as an essential part of rotation UP NEXT
NEW ORLEANS >> Warriors swingman Damion Lee looked up to the ceiling after Monday's game and thanked God after scoring 23 points in 28 minutes off the bench to help the Warriors win their first game of the season. It was an earnest moment for a player who is still seeking a fulltime role with the team.
Lee, 27, first joined the Warriors organization in 2017 when he was traded to the team's G League affiliate in Santa Cruz. After leaving for a one-year stint with the Atlanta Hawks, Lee found his way back to the Bay Area in 2018 and signed a two-way contract with the Warriors. He spent most of last season traveling back and forth between the NBA team and G League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors.
This past summer, the big league Warriors resigned Lee to another twoway deal. However, Lee had hoped to sign a fullNBA contract and become part of the 15-man roster. Through the early part of the season, the Warriors
Suns at Warriors, today, 7:30 p.m., NBCBA are utilizing him like he is.
Something that became clear after the Warriors' two blowout losses to open the season was that, to win games, they would need more help from a thin group of role players. With a roster depleted by injuries and departures, the Warriors' bench is made up of a group of journeymen and late draft picks who have been slow to find their place.
“Everybody has to be aggressive. You can't have guys out on the court just trying to move the ball just to move it,” Stephen Curry said after the game Monday. “You have to be a threat, whether it's shoot (or) attack.”
Lee emerged in Golden State's 134-123 win over the Pelicans, scoring 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 4 of 6 on 3-pointers, and finished with 11 rebounds and two assists in 28 minutes off the bench. After coach Steve Kerr elected to start small with forward Draymond Green at center and guard Jacob Evans left the game in the first quarter with a left adductor strain, Lee played his most minutes ever as a Warrior.
“For me, I wasn't thinking, ‘We're starting small, I'm going to go out there and be aggressive,'” Lee said. “Whatever time I get, whether it's five minutes, 10 minutes, 25 minutes, I know my role is to come in, play aggressive, play hard and try to do whatever I can to contribute.”
Lee's career-best performance included scoring 11 points in the third quarter that helped extend the Warriors' lead to 27 points heading into the final frame.
It can be easy to overlook that Lee is one of the few available incumbents from last year's team, along with Curry, Green, Evans and center Kevon Looney. As Curry and Green wait for the nine newcomers to get up to speed, Lee has an opportunity to flex his institutional knowledge.
Lee is playing on a twoway contract, which provides 45 days of eligibility at the NBA level. All other days must be spent with the team's G League affiliate in Santa Cruz. He's played in each of the Warriors' first three games, with his minutes increasing from four to 17 and then 28 minutes on Monday.
If Lee continues to be part of the rotation, those available days will evaporate by mid-December. It's telling that Lee was not included on the Santa Cruz Warriors' training camp roster — he figures to be with the NBA team for the immediate future.
Similar to the Marquese Chriss situation that resulted in waiving forward Alfonzo McKinnie, Lee's importance could force the Warriors' front office to make yet another roster decision. To sign Lee would take freeing up a roster spot. That could include waiving Chriss' nonguaranteed contract, or trading a player into cap space when most of the roster becomes trade eligible on Dec. 15.
The Warriors don't have to make that decision anytime soon, but it should be something on their radar. If the career G Leaguer continues to make himself essential, his hopes of signing his first regular NBA contract may finally become a reality. Better late than never.