In Defense of Rashard

On what should have been the happiest day of his life, Rashard Lewis instead heard his name dragged through the mud all over the internet yesterday, on the heels of signing a six-year deal with Orlando. From Bill Simmons to every blogger on the planet, Lewis couldn’t turn around without reading how ridiculous the Magic were for giving a punk like him so much money.

And while it’s fashionable to say that the Magic overpaid Lewis, that Lewis is a one-dimensional player who isn’t even that good at the one dimension, that Orlando is going to be handicapped in the future by the combination of Lewis and Howard’s contracts, allow me to say one thing:

Rashard Lewis is not a limp-wristed, shoot-only player whose contract is the worst in the history of professional sports. Rashard Lewis is a solid player who rarely if ever gets hurt, who doesn’t complain about minutes, shots, or anything else, and who is the perfect fit alongside Dwight Howard.

It’s true, Rashard is not a good defender. Heck, he’s barely an average defender. But the man is 6’10”, can handle the ball, can post up, can hit 3’s, and can score in transition. How many guys do you know who can do all of those things today in the NBA? 2? 3? 5?

Yes, Rashard is going to be wildly overpaid, especially at the end of his contract. But he’s only 27 years old and has at least 3 to 5 more years of peak productivity before his skills begin to decline. In other words, barring an unforeseen injury, he will give the Magic what they are expecting for the majority of his contract.

In my mind, that’s the crucial issue. After all, what’s worse – to pay Jerome James $5.4 million to score 1.9 points per game, or to pay Rashard Lewis $15 million to score 23? Is giving an all-star small forward max money worse than paying Adonal Foyle $9 mil a season to do whatever it is he does? Is Lewis’ deal worse than Raef LaFrentz’? Steve Francis’? Say what you will about Lewis, but the man is not a clubhouse cancer that will bitch to anyone who listens that he ought to be the star of the show.

Fine, the Magic overpaid Lewis, and his max salary will hurt the team’s flexibility in the future. His defense is weak, and he’s not the best rebounder in the history of basketball. But if I’m giving max contracts to people, I can do a lot worse than Rashard Lewis.

Durant Gone, Green Hurt; Sonics Lose

The Sonics managed to make it three in a row, as Kevin Durant attended the ESPYs and Jeff Green tended to a sprained ankle in a loss to Milwaukee in the Vegas Summer League on Wednesday.

Noel Felix was the standout performer, as the former Sonic Summer Leaguer contributed 27 points, while Lynn Greer cemented the argument that the Sonics need some point guard help in this league, finishing with 19 points and 8 assists.

Meanwhile, Johan Petro was, once again, awful. Pepe Le Petro finished with 8 fouls, 2 turnovers, and 0 rebounds in 22 minutes. No rebounds! A 7-footer entering his third year in the league, and he couldn't manage a single board despite playing half the game. Johan, I take back the nice things I said the other day - step it up, man!

Kenny Adeleke was strong in a starting role, grabbing 10 points and 8 boards, and Julius Hodge turned in his second good performance in three games. All in all, it was probably the best performance yet from Seattle, which isn't saying much, I know. The Sonics are off today, and then take on Golden State on Friday. We'll see if they hold Belinelli to under 50.

Summer League Game 3: Bucks

The Sonics will try to finally put one in the W column tonight in a 5:30 game against Milwaukee in the Las Vegas Summer League.

I'm not sure if the game will be webcast or not. You can check out nba.com as it gets closer to game time, but I can't make out whether you'll be able to watch anything.

The Bucks' roster includes former Sonic summer-leaguer Noel Felix, ex-Temple guard Lynn Greer (Go Owls!), late-season Sonic point guard Randy Livingston, 2nd rounder Ramon Sessions ... and a bunch of other guys.

Second-year player David Noel was Milwaukee's leading scorer in their last game, a loss to the Lakers. It'll be interesting to see if the Sonics' point guards are able to contain either Greer or Livingston, or if it'll be another display of olé defense.

As you may or may not have heard, Kevin Durant will be in LA for the ESPYs (he's filling in for Danny Fortson, who couldn't get out of his liposuction appointment), so Jeff Green will get another chance to show me why I was an idiot for criticizing the Sonics on draft day.

Go Jeff!