76ers Trade Rumors: Philly Not Interested in Knicks' Courtney Lee

The Philadelphia 76ers aren't looking to deal for New York Knicks shooting guard Courtney Lee, the Philadelphia Inquirer's Keith Pompey reported Wednesday.

The New York Post's Marc Berman reported the Knicks are trying to trade Lee and that the 32-year-old prefers to land with an NBA playoff contender. Berman added that the Sixers would be an interested trade suitor.

Before Pompey ruled out the idea of Lee going to the Sixers, Lee spoke with ESPN.com's Ian Begley to refute the rumor he wants out of New York at all:

Leaving out the finances, acquiring Lee would make sense for Philadelphia. The team lost Ersan Ilyasova and Marco Belinelli, both of whom are proven three-point shooters, in the offseason and didn't sign suitable replacements.

Lee is a career 38.9 percent shooter from beyond the arc, and he has been particularly effective with the Knicks, hitting 40.4 percent of his three-point opportunities. He could help fill the void Ilyasova and Belinelli left.

However, Lee will make a little more $25 million over the next two seasons. The Sixers will want to leave themselves as much financial flexibility as possible next summer to chase a marquee free agent. Philadelphia struck out this offseason, but that might not be the case again if the Sixers can make a deep run in the playoffs.

As much as Lee would help Philadelphia on the court, that doesn't outweigh the value the Sixers will have from their $40 million in projected salary cap space available in 2019, per Spotrac.