Rashard Lewis To The Orlando Magic Imminent

by user Brendan.Canney

Rashard Lewis ' new home will certainly be much closer to Disneyland than Seattle was. Yesterday Lewis informed the Orlando Magic that he would sign a max contract, worth somewhere in between $75 and $85 million, with them on July 11th and leave the Seattle Supersonics. Because of this signing it most certainly means that Darko Milicic would become an unrestricted free agent and will be finding work elsewhere. With the departure of Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen it appears that the rebuilding process has begun for the Seattle Supersonics. Many fans hope that Jeff Green and Kevin Durant make Seattle a perennial playoff team again and follow in the footsteps of " The Man Child" Shawn Kemp and Gary "The Glove" Payton who made Seattle a basketball powerhouse in the 90's. Not since the Magic acquired Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady in 2000 has their been such buzz surrounding a Magic offseason. The question is however to what end does a player like Rashard Lewis do to help a team like the Magic? I mean, he certainly in my eyes doesn't deserve a max contract because he's a one trick pony and has never played an entire season in his 7 full seasons as a starter. Rashard Lewis is 6'10" and only averaged 6 rebounds last year.......six rebounds. His RP48 (rebounds per 48 minutes) was less than Kyle Lowry, Mike Dunleavy, and Mark Madsen. A guy with his athleticism and height should at least be pulling down 8 boards a game. It's just a lack of effort on his part, and speaking of lack of effort, let's get into his "defense". The Sonics were to say the least, BAD on defense and get this, were even worse with Lewis on the floor. Seattle gave up 6.6 points per 100 possessions more when Lewis played, and consider this, his replacement was Vladimir Radmanovic. I'll give you some time to let that sink in. And oh wait, it gets worse! When Rashard Lewis was guarding, and we'll use that term loosely, his opponents were avergaing 18.6 ppg from the small forward spot, and a staggering 23.5 ppg at power forward.

InsanMajor Leaguer

879 days ago

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The Magic are a real problem in the East. This is ruining my hype over the Knicks grabbing Randolph and allegedly in serious talks with Artest.

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Brendan.CanneyDiv-I Stud

879 days ago

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I guess character isn't an issue in New York.

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InsanMajor Leaguer

879 days ago

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Never is, big market teams usually take chances on these guys.

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Davis21wylieMVP

879 days ago

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Seattle actually defended better with Lewis on the floor last year (-1.1 pts/100). Plus, Vladimir Radmanovic wasn't on Seattle last year. 82games' on/off +/- only compares players to their backups within the current year, so Lewis' replacements were Mickael Gelabale and Damien Wilkins.

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Anonymous Fanatic #1

879 days ago

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Yeah, that was my mistake. Those statistics and the Radmanovic reference were to the 05-06 season.

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EkomVarsity

879 days ago

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Do you need 2 more rebounds out of Lewis with Dwight Howard on the floor? Rashard has a sweet three stroke for a 6'10" guy. And guys that can shoot usually don't spend as much time near the rim rebounding...they draw bigger defenders OUT of the lane which opens the lane for your slashers and your big man to do what they do.

Who was getting your points when you needed them last year? I wonder if Lewis can help that category?

Better yet, isn't 6.whatever rebounds from Lewis +everything else he does BETTER than the effort you got from Darko?

Maybe you don't understand the game as well as your understanding of accumulated numbers. He may not be worth a max contract to most teams, but he IS worth it to the Orlando Magic! (of course, until he gets hurt... cough, cough - curse)

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Brendan.CanneyDiv-I Stud

879 days ago

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I never compared Rashard to Darko, just stating that with this impending signing of Lewis, Darko would be on his way out of Orlando. As for his rebounding, it's a matter of effort on his part. The man is 6'10" and like I said, with his athleticism he should be pulling down more rebounds. So in my eyes he still isn't a max player and this doesn't make the Magic contenders.

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EkomVarsity

879 days ago

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He gives your team a fearsome 6'10" slasher/shooter in the EAST - what other team in the EAST can say that? He's Shawn Marion-lite without the rebounding (you have other rebounders) and a BETTER shot (you don't have any fearsome shooters).

In the EAST. NEXT to Dwight Howard...

This is a good move for Orlando, regardless of the money. He's not the best player, but he's a damned good fit for your squad (I have a buddy that's a die-hard Magic fan)

Do you want to worry about cap space? Or fill gaping holes on your roster and add a weapon like this in the EAST.

The alternative is "not spending" and what will that get you? 7th place?

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DoubledeeWaterboy

879 days ago

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There are winners and then there are Manny/Ekoms. Manny is right 7th place is no good.

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EkomVarsity

879 days ago

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There are losers, there are bigger losers and then there are Jamels and Doubledees. They finished 8th this year, (and how many times before?) they needed to make SOMETHING happen. 8th is perpetual Basketball purgatory. Not good enough to go far in the playoffs, not bad enough to get lottery help.

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DoubledeeWaterboy

879 days ago

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Wow burn. That was great Manny. Last night I was talking to a friend about you. She said you were SO FUNNY!! She convinced me that this was all an act and that you were just trying to "challenge me". I like funny guys. I like a challenge.

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EkomVarsity

879 days ago

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yeah... a lot of people are always talking about me. You seem to have fallen into the Mannylust, too there big guy... It's like I have my own paparazzi! That's what happens when you're good. The not good enough get jealous. Whatever - that's their problem not mine...

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Tyrone BriggsHall of Famer

879 days ago

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God forbid Brendan for having an opinion that conflicts with Ecum.

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DoubledeeWaterboy

879 days ago

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want to go out some time?

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CallMeCoachSoccer Kid

879 days ago

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I agree with Brenden, Lewis stangely underperforms in the 'effort' areas (rebounding and defense of course). To call him Shawn Marion lite is to overestimate Marion's offensive ability and Lewis' defensive ability. That said, I like this signing, it makes Orlando a force. An already up and coming team gets much better. I assume that Grant Hill will leave, but we can honestly say that Orlando's 'front line' of Lewis, Howard, and Hedo (?) rank among the East's best (and ahead of New York because of Howard's defense). My one concern is what the Magic do with Trevor Ariza, a phenominal young talent who, with time and a jump shot, could become a starting 3 on a good team. He might get buried in the roster (unless Lewis gets hurt, which he will).

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EkomVarsity

879 days ago

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nicely put. I'm not saying he's the greatest player in the world. He was the best F.A. and Orlando NEEDED to do something - Fran Vasquez anyone? I just think he will expand his game more with the pieces that are already there... Howard will get MORE rebounds because of him and D21Dub detailed that his D is under-appreciated.

I saw him do damage too many times to discount him against the BIGS in the West. He can get 40 on any night.

It just hit me that if you took away the rings, the great nickname and the "clutch" tag from Robert Horry you'd basically have Rashard Lewis.

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Brendan.CanneyDiv-I Stud

879 days ago

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If he can get 40 any night he must have underachieved last year because he never reached that plateau all season. Also, I don't get the Robert Horry comparison at all so that must be a joke. I think Orlando wants to do this because they want to appease their fan base after the Billy Donovan fiasco. I mean, it makes no sense for the Magic to just kick Darko to the curb considering they gave up the 15th overall pick in this year's DEEP draft to get him and basically rented him for 1 year. Now as for Lewis' contract, the Magic could end up paying even more if a sign and trade deal was worked out. The Sonics would sign Lewis (and then immediately trade him) to a maximum six-year deal with annual raises of 10.5 percent. That deal would be worth $127 million compared to the current deal which is worth $97 million. So depending on those two scenarios, the cheapest the Magic would be paying for Lewis' services in his first year is close to $17 million dollars. He would be making more money than Yao Ming, Zach Randolph, Amare Stoudemire, Elton Brand, and Dirk Nowitzki, to just name a few. I'll let that sink in.

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KelsdadAll-Star

879 days ago

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Wow! Orlando just became....average.

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Anonymous Fanatic #2

870 days ago

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This is a crazy league. In the same week, Gerald Wallace, who gives you about 95% of what you get with Rashard, without the spoiled bratness (and is three years younger, by the way) signs for less than half of what Lewis got. Ugh.

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