Goodbye NBA! Three major knee injuries, how do you evaluate Damien Lee s career?

The NBA career belonging to Damien Lee is coming to an end.

From the Suns' record Duane Rankin, free agent Damien Lee will join Israeli team Ironi Ness Ziona, and he will play in the Israeli League next season (it has been officially announced). Many people should be familiar with Damien Lee's name. He is Curry's brother-in-law and is also the 2016 draft pick. After losing, he played for the Celtics (training camp contract, playing all in the Development League), the Hawks (two-way contract, only 15 games), and became famous during the Warriors.

Among them, in the 2018-19 season, Damien Lee's first year of joining the Warriors and marrying Curry's sister, he was just a marginal rotation, playing only 32 games in total, averaging 11.7 minutes per game, and only scored 4.9 points.

However, in the 2019-20 season, Damien Lee got a lot of opportunities because Durant left, Thompson's cruciate ligament to be reimbursed, and Curry's palm fracture was almost reimbursed (only played 5 regular season games).

This year, he played in 49 games, started 36 games, averaged 29 minutes per game, scored 12.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists, and had a three-point shooting percentage of 35.6%.

It can be said that it was precisely because of this year's performance that Damien Lee had the opportunity to gain a foothold in the NBA. In the following two seasons, Damien Lee served as substitutes for the Warriors and averaged 19 minutes of playing time.

In 2022, he also helped the Warriors successfully win the championship - although, Damien Lee in the playoffs this year was really a pitfall. He averaged only 7.8 points per game in 16 games, shooting percentage of 38.2%, and three-point shooting percentage of 25%. After winning the championship, Damien Lee joined the Suns. In the subsequent 2022-23 season, he once again performed well: playing 74 games, averaging 20.4 minutes per game, scoring 8.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists, shooting percentage of 44.2%/44.5%/90.4% in three events, and real shooting percentage of 60.7%.

If someone else thought that Damien Lee could play because of Curry's relationship, then this season, Damien Lee can be said to have completely proved himself.

Among the players who averaged at least 1 three-pointer per game in the league, Damien Lee ranked third in three-point shooting percentage, second only to Kennard (49.4%) and Horford (44.6%), which was higher than Curry (of course there are huge differences in production and style of play).

It is also because of his excellent performance this season that the Suns gave him a contract with the option to take players in 2023. However, before the 2023-24 regular season officially started, Damienri encountered a meniscus tear.

It should be noted that this is not the first time Damien Lee has suffered a major knee injury. He had a cruciate ligament torn in 2013. In 2016, he suffered another cruciate ligament torn. This third time, the serious injury directly led to his reimbursement throughout the season.

Then last season, Damien Lee returned, but his level declined significantly compared to a year ago. He only played 25 games in total, averaged 5.8 minutes per game, scored only 3.3 points, shot 36.5% from the field and 24.3% from three-point shooting percentage.

Damian Lee was originally a player who relied on three-pointers to gain a foothold in the league. He was good at running without the ball and shooting at a fixed point. In his first season with the Suns, he made a total of 84 of 165 three-pointers with a shooting percentage of up to 50.9%, and 32 of 53 three-pointers in the left corner, with a shooting percentage of 60.4% (elite level).

Defensive end, Damien Lee is not very talented, is thin, and has average confrontation, but has strong enthusiasm. Combined with his three-point threat, he can take a steady rotation in the Warriors and the Suns.

However, once it is unable to hit a three-pointer, Damien Lee's role on the court is completely negative. Judging from his performance last season, to be honest, it is normal that no one wants it this offseason.

It is worth mentioning that Damien Lee will be 33 years old in less than two months. At this age, he has experienced three major knee injuries. He still performed the same way last season. It is probably very difficult to return to the NBA in the future.

Although I have bid farewell to the NBA, I personally think that Damien Lee's career has been very successful. After all, not all the undrafts are Ben Wallace and VanVleet.

Considering that Damien Lee had experienced two cruciate ligament tear before entering the NBA, and he could play little by little from a training camp contract to a two-way contract and a formal contract, this experience is really not easy. In the future, no matter where he plays, I wish him better performance.