Trade Rewind: Warriors acquire David Lee from New York Knicks in 2010 sign-and-trade

In 2010, the Golden State Warriors traded Anthony Randolph, Ronny Turiaf and Kelenna Azubuike to the New York Knicks for forward David Lee.

When the calendar flips to July, the NBA offseason usually takes centerstage. Trades, the draft and free agency, cause a storm of news. However, with the NBA’s stretch run still on the docket in the Orlando Bubble, offseason action will be put on hold until October. 

With no hoops on the slate, Warriors Wire is rewinding through Golden State’s offseason history to highlight draft sleepers, memorable trades, standout free agent signings and everything in between. 

In 2010, former Golden State general manager Larry Riley acquired a future All-Star with an early July sign-and-trade. 

July 8, 2010

Coming off an All-Star season averaging a double-double with 20.2 points and 11.7 rebounds per game for the New York Knicks, David Lee became an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2010.

On July 8, 2010, the Golden State Warriors traded former first-rounder Anthony Randolph, Ronny Turiaf, Kelenna Azubuike and a second-round pick to the New York Knicks for Lee. 

In his first season in the Bay Area, the Florida Gators product averaged 16.5 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. In 2012-13, Lee returned to his double-double average with 18.5 points and 11.2 rebounds per contest. Lee’s performance alongside a young Stephen Curry was strong enough to earn the power forward a spot on the All-Star team. Lee became the first member of the Golden State Warriors to receive an All-Star nod since Latrell Sprewell in 1997. 

Watch highlights from Lee’s trip to the 2013 All-Star game via YouTube

Although injuries limited his playing time, the two-time All-Star played a reserve role in Golden State’s run to the 2015 NBA Championship. Over 10 minutes per game, Lee added 5.5 points, and 2.5 rebounds against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

Although he won’t get credit like Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green and Kevin Durant, the two-time All-Star played a significant role on and off the court in Golden State’s leap to consistent playoff contenders. 

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Kelenna Azubuike tells story of selling Knicks No.7 to Carmelo Anthony

When Kelenna Azubuike was still in the league, he sold his New York Knicks No.7 jersey to new teammate Carmelo Anthony, but for a lot less than what he expected.

Before taking the microphone as the Golden State Warriors broadcast analyst, Kelenna Azubuike played in the NBA from 2005-2012. Azubuike averaged 10.6 points per game over four seasons with the Warriors. However, his tenure in Golden State ended when he became apart of a package sent to New York in a sign-and-trade deal for David Lee.

Azubuike wore No. 7 in Golden State and continued to don the lucky number in New York until Carmelo Anthony arrived in the Big Apple.

In 2011 the Knicks acquired the All-Star forward from the Denver Nuggets. On arrival, Anthony requested Azubuike’s No. 7 jersey and got it.

When the Warriors traveled to Rip City, Anthony’s new home, Azubuike shared the story of what happened when he had to give up his No. 7 in the video below from NBC Sports Bay Area.

Like most professional sports jersey number exchanges, Azubuike expected Anthony to pay him handsomely for No. 7; instead, the former Kentucky Wildcat ended up with $3,000.

Upon first glance, $3,000 may seem like a nice come up for only exchanging a jersey number— yet, that season, Anthony cashed in a salary of $17,149,243 during his first year in New York while Azubuike notched $3,300,000 according to HoopsHype.

Six days after acquiring Anthony from Denver, the Knicks waived the then injured Azubuike from the team. During the Portland-Golden State broadcast, Azubuike joked that he’s still “salty” about having to sell Anthony his number for a low price.

With Azubuike on the call, Anthony got the last laugh as his Trail Blazers cruised by Golden State 122-112 in Portland.