"The Knicks had a place for David Lee in their starting lineup, providing the rebounds next to Amar'e Stoudemire. They just didn't have a place for Lee in their 2010-11 salary cap.

Lee returns to the Garden Wednesday night for the first time since going to Golden State last summer in a sign-and-trade deal for three players, Anthony Randolph, Ronny Turiaf and Kelenna Azubuike.

The deal allowed Lee to get the money he wanted - $80 million - but the Knicks felt he wasn't worth such a big contract, not when they needed to address several other positions after losing out on LeBron James and signing Stoudemire to a $100 million max contract. Now playing for another team that is rebuilding, Lee has said he could have played with Stoudemire.

"He probably could have," team president Donnie Walsh said after practice Monday in Greenburgh, when the 3-3 Knicks prepared for Tuesday night's game in Milwaukee against the struggling 2-5 Bucks. "But he wanted what he got. And we couldn't have done the same things if we did that. And that was, fill out the whole team. We needed more than just one player."

The Knicks were able to go out and upgrade their starting point guard spot, by signing Raymond Felton; find a starting center in Timofey Mozgov; add a key reserve in Turiaf; and get a talented, developing player Randolph."