Monday, February 20

Lew Too?

Seattle Supersonics forward Rashard LewisAfter last week's Radman/Wilco trade, everyone is still waiting for the other shoe to drop. John Sleeper of the Herald thinks that shoe should be Lew:
The Sonics want to take good looks at youngsters Robert Swift and Johan Petro, both of whom have shown promise and that they only need playing time. Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis (both can include "All-Star" on their resumes), Luke Ridnour, Nick Collison and Damien Wilkins all appear untouchable.

But are they all safe? At 26, Lewis has been in the league eight years and is just now entering the realm of "seasoned veteran." An effortless scorer, Lewis, as are too many Sonics, is a liability on defense. His build still is so slight that opposing forwards use him as a tackling dummy in the paint.

Read the rest here.

56 comments:

Fred Bongo said...

I don't think Rashard's build makes him a liability on D. He can be very effective on people like McGrady when he is motivated.

I agree with the idea that a championship caliber team needs three stars. Rashard can be an excellent long term nubmer two, but I would trade him for a long term number one.

Anonymous said...

lets trade him for a beastly power forward

him and danny for elton brand!

*back to reality*

Anonymous said...

If only somehow we could trade Lew and our past 7 second round draft choices for Paul Pierce....

What do you all think about the point of this article though, who exactly would provide equivalent defensive value to Lewis' offensive value?

We lost our chance at Artest, is he suggesting we target Raja Bell or Bruce Bowen or what? Defense is great, but there are probably great defensive ballers at the local gyms around the country. If you can't add anything on the offensive end you ain't making the team.

Really, name someone other than Ben Wallace that has won a defensive player of the year medal that was truly only a defensive specialist. Rodman, Robinson, Olajuwon, Mutumbo, Payton, Mourning, Wallace and Artest have won since 1990.

Rodman and Wallace are two of the best rebounders and defenders of their generations, and Mutumbo one of the best shot blockers. All the rest are superstar offensive players as well. You have to be -exceptional- to make a big difference in the nba as primarily a defensive player.

That said, I think we get our defense from a new starting point guard, and the centers learning the proper rotations. Possibly a new hard-ass coach.

We are one player and some development away from being a good team again. If we trade Lew for a defender, we'll be one and a half away.

Carl

Anonymous said...

Nice post Ej

Though you stole my thunder a little with the "fuck a backup, we need a starter" line. I love the J. Rich suggestion, I for one would love that deal. Is there any chance that Sund/Walker/Shultz (sounds like a mentally handicapped lawfirm) could come up "missing" on draft day? The Ben Gordon deal would work allright but we would need to get rid of Tim Thomas ASAP, the last thing we need is another steaming pile to influence Rashard to play even softer. I have a new nickname for Rashard btw, "The Charminator" or we could just call him "TP" for short. Ray Allen is hands down the purest jump shooter in the NBA and that's fine if you play in the East. I'm from the school of thinking that believes a team in the West needs to be able to "beast" on another team at any given time. What I mean by that is the exact opposite of what the Sonics are now. No finesse jump shooters no soft 6'10' forwards that like to play outside the 3point arc, or wear goofy ass braids in the playoffs when everyone is watching. We need players from the old Sonics like Kemp style 4's and Paytonesque 1's. We need role players like Hersey Hawkins who CAN hit the three but are just as comfortable driving to the basket and getting 3 the old fashioned way. Leave the finesse to Milwuakee and Indiana. We need to get back to the wild, wild west mentality of punishing play around the rim, thunderous dunks and scrappy defense. Those are 3 adjectives that conjure up memories of the old Sonics, that's what Sonic means, blitz your opponents into submission. Fast paced hard-hitting basketball with scrappy trapping defenses that will bring in cats named Frank Brikowski and Terry Cummings who come in the game to do nothing more than to put you on your ass, and if we get an occasional 3 out of them that's a bonus. No one comes into Seattle scared anymore, instead they lick their chops as they look forward to putting up 100+ points and a carrer night in individual #'s. I for one think this needs to stop NOW, I'm sick of it, I'm sick of watching with my wife and having to answer questions like "how come the Huskies look like they would crush the Sonics?" and "did they outlaw defense in the NBA this year or something?". I hate you Sund/Walker?Schultz, I hate that you've taken my beloved Sonics and tuned them into this barely watchable tribute to nice guys finishing last.

Zach said...

I can't honestly believe some of you would rather trade a 26-year-old forward who can score in the post over a 32-year-old guard who plays no D, dribbles too much, and has a massive amount of money coming to him over the next four years.

Anonymous said...

Hi, can you guys pwease ban bwack/biggie. He weally sucks, he's so mean to me and never respects my ideas on how we could make Wick Sund feel mowe comfowtable. I wove Way Allen and I think Washawd Lewis is the toughest guy evew. Pwease ban him PWEASE, or I will cwy. :(

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know how likely Garnett is to be traded from Minnesota? When I look at all the available players we could trade Rashard for, KG's the only one I'd be interested in. To me, KG and Ray add up to a dynamite combination, and instantly make the Sonics contenders in the West again. Perhaps:

Rashard
Evans
Collison
Potato
Fortson

for

Garnett
Madson
Hudson

I'd even throw in either Fife or Petro to make the deal happen.

As to Ridnour, I don't look at him as either the problem or the solution. Yes, his defense is poor, but that's not what's keeping us from winning, or else the Sonics wouldn't have won last year, either. All we need is a decent, veteran backup similar to AD to take over in the 4th quarter.

Anonymous said...

Sowwy, nevew wespects.

Anonymous said...

Nate,

Exactly, wtf, I remember that game. He shut McGrady down. That puts a really bad taste in my mouth knowing that he has the capabilities but is just too damn lazy. And lately he's poppin off in the press about how he should be consulted or at least notified of moves that "management" makes, not if you don't play freakin defense they shouldn't. Scrub.

Anonymous said...

Nuss,

I love the trade with one exeption; Fuck Madsen and Hudson, I'll trade those 5 for KG and a draft pick, we don't need more scrubs. Not a TLC fan but their annoying hit song should be the Sonics theme. NO SCRUBS!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Biggie, I don't want those 2, either, but if Minnesota gives up KG, they're going to want their pound of flesh. In this case, it means getting rid of two contracts (Madsen and Hudson). Hudson's contract is terrible, and they don't need him, so we've got to eat his deal in order to get Garnett. It's no different then Minny putting up with Fortson and Potato in order to get Rashard, really.

Anonymous said...

We love you too ak1984. lol

Anonymous said...

ak1984, that's some mouth you've got there, I'll bet Peyton Manning and Kenny Chesney could really use you. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Anonymous said...

Anyhow, with regards to Biggie, I don't fucking care that you post here; however, you ought to add comments that contain substance, rather than comments that contain nothing more than your own personal beliefs and positions.

The following is an example of a sound, valid, and logical claim: Rashard Lewis (Net Efficiency Rating: +4.4, On-Court/Off-Court +/- Rating: +3.0, & Roland Rating: +4.0), is less productive than Luol Deng, (Net Efficiency Rating: +5.1, On-Court/Off-Court +/- Rating: +5.8, & Roland Rating: +5.3), Josh Howard (Net Efficiency Rating: +8.1, On-Court/Off-Court +/- Rating: +1.5, & Roland Rating: +6.2), and Paul Pierce (Net Efficiency Rating: +12.0, On-Court/Off-Court +/- Rating: +4.3, & Roland Rating: +9.8).*

Lastly, prior to the start of this season, I was right about my predictions that Rashard Lewis would be a vastly overrated player rather than an returning All-Star, Danny Fortson would be nothing more than an overpaid malcontent, Luke Ridnour (Net Efficiency Rating: -3.9, On-Court/Off-Court +/- Rating: -1.1, & Roland Rating: -3.1) would not be a productive starting point guard, Bob Weiss wouldn't be able to coach this team, and both CEO/President Wally Walker and GM Rick Sund are flat-out incompetent at their respective jobs.

*http://www.82games.com

Anonymous said...

Anon, do you have their #'s. I LIKE Kenny Chesney, I have a poster of him on my ceiling. My fathead of Peyton Manning hasn't arrived yet, but does anyone know if they stick to matresses'??

Anonymous said...

Okay, I'm not mad anymore.

As it was, though, I figured that using a derivative of the c-word would add some extra emphasis to my post.

Anyhow, Biggie, even if you were the person who wrote under my pseudonym, it doesn't bother me.

Good Times,
AK1984

Anonymous said...

Ak, what you mean post a bunch of useless statistics (since none of us are GM's) that people gloss over anyways??

I'll post what I like, do you. Don't get your panties in a bind over what I do. Buster!!

Anonymous said...

Well, in all reality, I like the following bands:

Nirvana
Pearl Jam
Soundgarden
Alice In Chains
Green River
Mudhoney
Audioslave
Foo Fighters
Cold
Crossfade
Seether
Shinedown
Seven Mary Three
Godsmack
Disturbed
Chevelle
Vendetta Red
Mother Love Bone
The Screaming Trees
The Melvins
The Meat Puppets
Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Deftones
Radiohead
Metallica
Weezer
Silverchair
Bush
Green Day
The Offspring
Bad Religion

Lastly, I hate country, rap, hip-hop, and most conetmporary music.

Good Times,
AK1984

Anonymous said...

We needed to know this because...................?????

Anonymous said...

Wow, with the exeption of Alice and the chilis, the things all those bands have in common are: They are all albums that you could play for me while I was in an interrogation to make me tell you whatever you want to know, just MAKE IT STOP!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Ohmygod you guys should smell my finger right now, ooooooooooowwwieee, that is just 'sniff, sniff' nasty.

Anonymous said...

I think ak1984 is right. Statistically if you use my over/under #'s, ak1984 would come out as the best blogger of all times.

Paul said...

Man, I haven't seen this much hatin' since Nuss called Nash a pussy.

I know it's been a tough season, but let's not get nasty on each other. Is this what Shawn Kemp would do? Hell no! He would light up a spliff and play some NBA Live 95 on his Sega Genesis!

Now, whoever's jacking AK1984's handle, it's getting old, so please stop. I don't want to have to erase all those stupid posts and ban IP's and such because I'm really freaking lazy.

Also, Biggie - you are now my favorite Supersonicsoulic for name-dropping The Brick and Terry Cummings in one sentence. Keep the old-school vibe coming, and mayble I'll have to re-post my MP3 of "Naw, Not in our House!" featuring Eddie Johnson and Steve Scheffler.

Now, can we all please get along?

Paul said...

(I meant to say "Supersonicsouliac" - "Supersonicsoulic" is, of course, an adjective.)

Anonymous said...

Word!

Anonymous said...

You like that how about Vinny Askew and Saruonas Marcialonis??

Fred Bongo said...

Rashard is what he is, a guy motivated to polish his offense and not his D. He will probably never take that next step. That said, he is really good at scoring, which is valuable.

The Sonics would make that Garnett trade in a second, because its not equitable. I love Collison, but I don't think he makes up the difference between Lewis and a perrennial MVP candidate.

I think the point about our guard's defense is valid. Last year we got away with it because we had a great back-up. What could we get for Ray besides Ben Gordon?

Anonymous said...

I've been thinking about that supposed Garnett trade and I kinda forgot that KG kinda gets allergies to the ball in the closing minutes of an important playoff type game. Although it would be OK here because we have Ray who loves to take and make those shots. But someone on here brought up a good point about Rashard being alot younger and worth more in the long run, so it might not be worth it.

Anonymous said...

Regardless of the fact that some moron is using the David Locke handle in a futile attempt to be amusing, the real David Locke doesn't come up with much of his own statistical analysis. As it is, he mostly uses information that is calculated by the likes of John Hollinger, Kevin Pelton, Dean Oliver, Dan Rosenbaum, et al. Yet, even with that noted, David Locke is a damn good source for inside information concerning the NBA.

Good Times,
AK1984

P.S.: I, amazingly enough, can also drop names; the following are former players from the George Karl era:

1. Marty Conlon
2. Gerald Paddio
3. Chris King
4. Dontonio Wingfield
5. Sherrell Ford
6. Larry Stewart
7. James Cotton

Anonymous said...

You are awesome ak1984, I would love to take you out for a goodtime 'wink, wink'. You, me, Kenny, and Peyton; Sandwich time!!!! You can bring YOUR fathead. :)

Paul said...

MARTY CONLON!!! You rock, AK! I loved that guy - he looked like that kid on the Wonder Years.

Anonymous said...

According to KJR - and sonicscentral.com - Robert Swift broke his nose in practice on Reggie Evans' elbow.

With the broken beak, Robert Swift is now edging ahead in the Schick Ugly Man competition in front of Sam Cassell, marking the first time since 1998 that Cassell would lose the award.

Anonymous said...

C'mon man Cassell is an ambassador from planet LYKZZZKUY##$&*IDUZXXI, that's no way to talk about a foreign dignitary. So he looks like a Mon Calamari (Admiral Akbar, aka fish dude from Star Wars) what's the deal.

While I'm on the subject of looks; Ok a few months ago Foxsports did an NFL's Sexiest man competition and there were no black candidates (real nice), does anyone think they would try to pull that shit with the NBA i.e. Ridnour, szerzrczcrzczcbiak, Williams, etc.

Anonymous said...

"MARTY CONLON!!! You rock, AK! I loved that guy - he looked like that kid on the Wonder Years."

Yeah, he did sort of look like Paul Pfiffer.

Anonymous said...

Well, they might wait until after february. lol

Anonymous said...

I have a friend that swears up and down that Sherell Ford and James Cotton were awesome players that didn't get a chance. It's a weird obsession, but it's funny as hell to listen to him go on and on about them.

Chris King has some filthy dunks

Gerald Paddio was a star in Europe

damn I'm bored

Anonymous said...

YEAH YOU ARE

Fred Bongo said...

A couple of my friends saw Swift at the USC-UW game said he was not as deformed looking in person as he looks on the court. Still, this could be the best shot the Sonics have at winning a competition this year.

Anonymous said...

well if we hadn't gotten rid of brent barry and Radmanovic, we could have been th only team in the NBA who could start 5 white players;

1. Ridnour
2. Barry
3. Radmanovic
4. Collison
5. Swift

freakin amazing, good job there Howie you almost did it.

Anonymous said...

AK1984,

Stop wasting your time with those sorry bands, check out Weather Report w/ Jaco Pastorious. You can thank me later.

Fred Bongo said...

Hey, no one is saying that Swift is the next Tom Brady. But if you throw a baseball cap on him and a normal outfit on him and he looks less freakish.

Did Jerome really put the boot down on people?

Anonymous said...

The following is a proposed three-way deal that, if completed, would totally shake up the franchise:

1.
To Denver/From Seattle:
Center Vitaly Potapenko
Power Forward Reggie Evans
Shooting Guard Ronald Murray
Power Forward Peter Fehse (Draft Rights)
Point Guard Paccelis Morlende (Draft Rights)

To Seattle/From Denver:
Point Guard Earl Watson
Shooting Guard Voshon Lenard

2.
To Chicago/From Seattle:
Shooting Guard Ray Allen
Small Forward Rashard Lewis
Power Forward Danny Fortson
Point Guard Rick Brunson

To Seattle/From Chicago
Small Forward Tim Thomas
Shooting Guard Ben Gordon
Shooting Guard Eric Piatowski
Point Guard Chris Duhon
Small Forward Luol Deng
2006 First-Round Draft Pick
2006 First-Round Draft Pick [Via The New York Knicks]
2008 First-Round Draft Pick

3.
To Chicago/From Denver:
Small Forward Byron Russell

To Denver/From Chicago:
Mario Austin (Draft Rights)

http://realgm.com/src_checktrade.php?tradeid=2986628

Anonymous said...

Ak,

You can't trade Ray and Rashard, pick one, be realistic. Of course that would shake up the franchise, but it would also shake up the Miami heat if they traded Shaq to the storm for Lauren Jackson. I'm sorry I just don't get your point, you always talk about how my suggestions make no sense and then you throw this out there.

Anonymous said...

So I'm listening to the worst sports radio in the nation (KJRAM) since I have no other choice, it being the only sports radio station in seattle. I hear on there that they would like the Sonics to draft Adam Morrison. My problem with that is that they have learned NOTHING from their previous draft day follies. The last three drafts, before this last one, the Sonics selected white guys. Swift should be better than Shawn Bradley (that's all I'm givin him) Collison will never be better than he is right now (average) and Ridnour BLOWS. We drafted that kid from miss st (his name escapes me right now Laurence something or other) and then immediatly traded him. I know none of you believe the rumor about Nate leaving due to management filling the roster with mediocre white players (some twisted experiment) but my little brother goes to O'Dea and is good friends with Jamel McMillan. Young Mr. McMillan says in a conversation with his father his dad said "I'm not coaching Gonzaga, and this is getting ridiculous". If the SuperSonics are dumb enough to draft Reddick/Morrison I will become a die hard Blazers fan, I don't care fuck it, I was born and raised in Seattle but if my favorite franchise is going out of it's way to 'whitewash' the team, I'm done fuck it.

Anonymous said...

Francis to the NY Sicks. That'll be a good one to watch.

Anonymous said...

B_CON,

I feel you on the Shelden Williams thing exept we really don't need him. Hear me out. Wilcox looks great he's Kemp2, we've got our 2 bigs(Petro,Swift) we don't need another log jam at PF, keep nick or Reggie for the bench and go get a STARTING PG ARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH.

I need an answer from everyone on this site to the following question:

Do you really think Luke is the point guard to bring a championship to Seattle???

If not why the hell can't the Supes offer him and Ray Allen to OK for Chris Paul, or him and Ray to Orlando for Jameer Nelson and a draft pick.

We need a PG, every NBA champion has a GREAT point guard, with the exeption of the Bulls and that's just because they ran the Triangle offense which really doesn't utilize a PG i.e. GP with the Lakers.

Seattle Super Sonics lineup '07
backups in parenthesis

5. Petro/Swift (Moore)
4. Wilcox (Collison/Evans)
3. Lewis (Wilkins if not starting at the 2)
2. Draft pick(Gay) or Wilkins (free agent)
1. Paul/Nelson/Draft pick(Dee Brown) anybody but Ridnour and we can go get Conroy from the d-league for a backup. We could win alot of games with this team.

I hate you Walker/Sund/Schultz!!!!!!
Fuckin' morons.

Anonymous said...

Gay and Brown are in () but they are not backups, of course, in my plan.

Anonymous said...

I think the sonics should draft Brandon Roy if we can get him, also if Bobby Jones is on the board in the 2nd round we should take him too.

Anonymous said...

husky fan,

Word. I can dig it.

Anonymous said...

Lance is right, there's no way the Hornets give up Paul now, unless they're getting Tim Duncan, Dwayne Wade, or Kobe in exchange. They guy's the next rising star for the league, plays the point; why would they give up all of that?

Anonymous said...

I don't mean Wilcox is going to have 7 babies mama's or do coke and eat at Dennys 8 times a day (sorry Reign man I love you buddy).

I mean very athletic jump out of the gym sky for the rebound play good 'D' dunk on ANYONE, Kemp2.

Fine I was wishing with the paul thing, BUT, we could trade up in the draft and get Dee Brown from Illi. We can deal Ray, Reggie, and Fortapenko to the Warriors for J Rich and Ike D, and then get Brown in the draft.

Anonymous said...

give Will Conroy a 10 day to help at point - can't hurt, can it?

Cook, clean, do somethin'!

Anonymous said...

Ryan Appleby is a scrub, he can hit a couple 3's but when ever he has the ball and is not shooting, he's a turnover machine.

PN said...

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm about ready to ban b-con for bringing Bill Walton into the soul. Seriously, man, there'e no need for that here.

Anonymous said...

Ok, I understand we all get stressed out from time to time but there is no need to go throwing around words like 'Bill' and 'Walton', my son could have been in the room (well not really, I'm at work but still) and seeing two of the worst words in the english language could seriously scar him for life. For the love of god, please STOP!!!

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