Sunday, May 27

Nuss gets props from Times, call from KIRO

Seattle Supersonics expert Peter NussbaumPeter J. Nussbaum, the hardest working man in blog-ness, is featured in not one, but TWO major Seattle media markets today. First, in this morning's Seattle Times, and later (possibly) on KIRO (he was asked to be on tonight, but we're having a hard time tracking him down in the wilds of Canada).

Anyway, imaginary high-fives all around!

UPDATE: Pete also got name-dropped on AOL Sports today!

Saturday, May 26

Lewis Files for FA

Shocking, I know. But just to make it official, Rashard Lewis filed for free agency on Friday (first report goes to KRIV in Houston, Texas). The Times and PI also checked in with stories as well (quick note to Percy Allen at the Times: the 6.6 rebounds per game is Rashard's 3rd-best effort of his career, not his career-high; it's not a big thing, but it does defuse the "contract-year" hype we're going to be hearing in the next couple of months). Not much interesting news, but according to the espn.com story, Lewis' agent, Tony Dutt, commented:

"We've been in contact [with Lenny Wilkens]. We'll probably stay in contact on and off until July 1."
The bidding is expected to reach $15 million per season.

Friday, May 25

More Ra

It's the story that won't go away, and now even the heavyweights are talking about it.

Rashard Lewis receives first-page treatment from Ian Thomsen at si.com, detailing his possible future homes. According to Thomsen, Orlando and the Bulls are the first options, with New York, Cleveland, Washington, Dallas, Philadelphia, Boston, Indiana, and Portland waiting in the wings.

It's funny, isn't it? The Sonics go all season without making as much as a blip on the NBA radar (what's below a blip, anyways? a bloop? a tick?), and now between Durant's arrival and Lewis' possible departure, we're front page every day.

Count me as a "thanks, but no" on the Darko rumors. Free Darko? Great. Darko Milicic? Not so much. Yeah, he's 7', and yeah, he can block shots, but from what I've seen of Milicic in his games against the Sonics, I'd rather not tie up a big chunk of salary cap space on his "potential." Put it this way: Nick Collison's rebounding numbers (percentage-wise) were better than Darko's this year, and I don't hear anyone clamoring to give Collison a six-year deal worth upwards of $10 mil a season.

Now, Jermaine O'Neal? That's a whole different story ...