But Thursday brought about some good news for the C's, as it appears that Lee will be headed to Boston after all.
The Houston Rockets have agreed to trade Lee to the Celtics for second-year forward JaJuan Johnson, E'Twaun Moore, Sean Williams and a second-round pick, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.
Lee, who was drafted 22nd overall by Orlando in 2008, will now join his fourth NBA team. Although he's been a solid contributor during his four seasons, Lee has been unable to secure a permanent role with either the Magic, Nets or Rockets.
Joining a veteran crew in Boston, Lee does bring some playoff experience with him as he was a starter on the Magic's 2009 NBA Finals team.
Lee has become best known as a deadly shooter and solid perimeter defender during his short pro career. He's averaged 11.4 points and 2.7 rebounds while shooting nearly 39 percent from three-point land. His role in Boston will likely be as a backup to Avery Bradley at shooting guard, and he'll be relied on along with Terry to help boost the scoring on the second line.
The departing Johnson, a first-round pick traded from the Nets on draft night in 2011, didn't get much run with the C's last year, averaging just 3.2 points and 1.6 rebounds in 36 regular season games.
Johnson is not a traditional big man but still has a great deal of potential on the interior. The Rockets likely see Johnson as depth in their frontcourt, and he should see a fairly significant rise in playing time with Houston.
Moore, who was expected to take on a much larger role in Boston's backcourt next season, scored 2.9 points over 38 games with the Celtics last season after beign taken 55th overall out of Purdue in 2011. Williams didn't sign with the Celtics until near the end of the 2012 season, and played just three regular season games with the C's. The second-round pick in the deal is also supposedly the one Boston received from Oklahoma City earlier in the offseason in return for the Jeff Green's health problems.
Photo via Facebook/Courtney Lee
