Happy Birthday, Rashard

In honor of Rashard Lewis' 27th birthday today (hey, doesn't it seem like he's been in his 20s for about 13 years now?), here are 5 facts about Rashard Lewis that even most die-hard Sonic fans probably don't know:

1. Rashard's most comparable player at age 26 is James Worthy
2. Despite not making the All-Star team in '05-'06 after making it the year before, Rashard stats are identical for the 2 seasons, perhaps even better for this past season
3. The last 10 guys picked in the 1st round of the '98 draft, while Lewis sat in the green room and stewed: Roshown McLeod, Ricky Davis, Brian Skinner, Tyronn Lue, Felipe Lopez, Al Harrington, Sam Jacobson, Vladimir Stepania, Corey Benjamin, Nazr Mohammed
4. Of the 31 guys picked ahead of Lewis in the draft, only 5 have scored as many points (Bibby, Jamison, Carter, Nowitzki, and Pierce)
5. At age 26, Lewis averaged 20 pts, 5 boards, 2 assists, and 1 steal. At age 26, Worthy averaged 20 pts, 5 boards, 4 assists, and 1 steal.

Rashard's a tough guy to pigeonhole. 6'10", he's a great outside shooter, yet he can also run the floor. He's not much for defense, but he's tall enough to shut down any SF in the league. He's been in Seattle longer than any Sonic, yet he's not nearly as popular as guys that have arrived since his debut. In sum, he is a conundrum, a tall small forward whose phenomenal talent has left Sonic fans always wanting more.

But maybe, just maybe, we should just accept Rashard for what he is - a classic 3. Great scorer, acceptable defender, capable of scoring 20 points every night, and a borderline all star. I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't mind having a guy like that on my team.

Radman Redux

As if this summer of Seattle hoops news wasn't bad enough to begin with, now the Seattle Times reports the Sonics are planning on pulling a Radmanovic on Chris Wilcox. (Kudos to the Times and Percy Allen for running the most Sonics stories this summer, by the way).

You have to especially enjoy this quote from Jeff Fried, Wilcox' agent. "A one-year deal, in our mind, is not a deal," Fried said. "One year, in our mind, left Chris with no alternatives."'

Ah, the ol' player-backed-into-the-corner bit, the truest sign of oncoming autumn. Is this more negotiating, or are the Sonics and Wilcox truly at an impasse? No one can ever know the truth in these situations, and it's not beyond the realm of possibility that the Sonics would call a press conference for Monday to announce they had signed Chris Wilcox to a 5-year, $33 million contract, but I'm beginning to get that same feeling in my stomach I did last summer, when Radman, Reggie Evans, and Flip Murray saw their contract talks drag on throughout August and September.

I said it before, and I'll repeat it now: signing Chris Wilcox to a one-year deal is an absolute nightmare situation for the Sonics. With word that Wilcox is growing miffed at the Sonics for not inking him, we've now got the potential for a historically unmotivated player with poor work habits coming into camp with a chip on his shoulder.

Oh, yeah, that should work out well.

Wilcox Still Undecided

Reports are still trickling in regarding Chris Wilcox' free agency status, with his agent telling the PI that Wilcox if it comes down to signing a one-year deal and waiting for FA next year, "Chris is prepared to do that."

Ouch.

In my mind, Wilcox signing a one-year deal is an absolute worst-case scenario, even worse than letting him go for a bucket of wings and a 2nd-round draft pick.

Seattle GM Rick Sund chimed in as well, stating, "We've had dialogue the past few weeks but we are not close to an agreement." I know it's all posturing on both sides, but the longer this thing drags out, the worse of a feeling I'm getting. In a perfect world, Wilcox would take the 3-year deal he's been offered, as he'll be able to command a good salary at the end of it, and the Sonics won't be on the hook for a monster deal if he turns out to be the 2006 version of Jerome James/Calvin Booth/Jim McIlvaine.

In other news, Johan Petro may or may not be on the French World Championship squad. According to FIBA, Petro is competing with Ronny Turiaf for a center spot, and one of them will have to go. Be nice to see Petro get some more recognition, but I'll be honest, seeing him get some rest wouldn't be so bad, either. And, for what it's worth, does anyone know if Gelabale is playing in the tournament as well? I'm beginning to think that the government should start using European basketball leagues for their witness protection programs - it's next to impossible to find a boxscore or team roster for the myriad of tournaments that go on over there.