Lost in the shuffle of the Golden State Warriors‘ incredible playoff run to an NBA Championship was the inauspicious absence of former All-Star David Lee. Lee had one of the most unusual seasons in league history. He injured his hamstring in the team’s final preseason game and missed 24 of their first 25 games. He was replaced by eventual All-Defensive First Team Member Draymond Green. Green had a breakthrough season in new coach Steve Kerr’s more defense-oriented system.

Lee has always been criticized for lack of defensive ability and struggled to find minutes in Kerr’s new system which led to the inevitable rumors about him being trade bait. You would think Golden State would not expect much back for Lee. He only played 18 minutes per game last year and is coming off of a hamstring injury. However, just because he doesn’t fit with Golden State doesn’t mean he won’t excel with the New York Knicks.

The Knicks finished last in the league in scoring last year at points per game. After missing out on Greg Monroe, the Knicks are in desperate need of a scorer. As good as new acquisition Robin Lopez can be on the defensive end, he is not a scorer. Lee averaged 18.2 points per game while shooting a 52 percent FG%. He has a nice midrange game and can score from the post.

Knicks fans will no doubt remember well that he is ambidextrous. Most importantly, while with Golden State he corrected his debilitating habit of poor shot selection. Lee may not be able to give them everything Monroe could have, but he’s a really good plan B. They will have to deal with his defensive problems of course, which will put pressure on the guards and mostly Lopez, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices. You are already getting little to no offensive production from the center position, things need to be different from your power forward. David Lee makes sense for the Knicks.

He’s only 32 years old and has a contract that expires at the end of the 2015-16 season. It’s already been shown that he relishes playing in the spotlight of Madison Square Garden and Knicks fans will certainly welcome him back with open arms. A trade for Lee would be high-risk but the reward could be astronomical if he can come anywhere close to his numbers from last season. The Knicks must pull the trigger on this one. They can get a possible 15-point-per-game scorer for a couple second-round picks. What are they waiting for?

Chipper Murphy is a Beat Writer for the New York Knicks on www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChipperMurphy, “Like” him on Facebook.