The trades of Shane Battier and Aaron Brooks have given Courtney Lee the bigger role he's been hoping for all season

Courtney Lee was not certain he would be traded, but said he was "prepared for anything." He was wrong.

Lee had not presumed how the deals that did come down would affect him. As Rockets general manager Daryl Morey had indicated to him, Lee wasn't traded, but Shane Battier and Aaron Brooks were. Though neither played Lee's position, th ose trades heavily impacted Lee's role .

He had gone from getting inconsistent minutes, to a sixth-man role. He had been sitting down the stretch, with Brooks usually pairing with Kyle Lowry in a two-point guard backcourt. Lee has since been finishing games. And he has gone from showing flashes to dramatically improving the Rockets' defense while being one of their most reliable scorers .

"I'm a little tired, playing a little bit more minutes," Lee, 25, said without complaint. "I'm just happy I'm getting the opportunity. The schedule was pretty rough, but I'm happy with it. I'm happy with the situation."

Yet when the Rockets speak of what Lee, 6-5, has brought since the trade deadline, they have cited his defense, especially late in games.

"I was talking to someone in our organization about that and he said, 'It gives us a different defensive swagger,'  " Lowry said. "I don't notice it when I'm out there, but I can see that.

"Courtney is a heck of a defender. He takes as much pride in his defense and I take in my defense as Chuck (Hayes) takes in his defense. It just gives us another ability to go out and play hard and do things defensively and get stops when we need to get them ."

Though he backs up his friend and summer workout partner, Martin, Lee has maintained since the trade to the Rockets that he would like to start again.

"My goal is to get back to being a starter, but if this is where I'm going to have to be, I'm going to make the best of it," Lee said. "I'm going to do what I have to do.

"I'll be comfortable with it, but my ultimate goal is to get back to starting again."