Rashard Lewis Begins Life as a Free Agent

by Atma Brother ONE on May 25, 2007 8:48 PM PDT in NBA

According to ESPN.com news services Rashard Lewis has opted out of his deal with the Seattle SuperSonics. He passed on the Sonics' $25 million extension this past February and left 21 million guaranteed big ones on the table by opting out of his current deal. I can't say I have much experience with leaving $21 million on the table, but my NBA instincts say that Rashard is doing the right thing. He's going to make dollars like EPMD this summer as one of the premiere free agents on the market. It wasn't too long ago that he was a high schooler left stranded and crying in the NBA Draft green room after teams foolishly passed him up in the 1st round, so good for him.

Rashard's looking to get paid!

There's a ton to like about Rashard Lewis' game. He's a sweet shooting 6 foot 10 inch small forward that can rebound and pass. Lewis is only two years removed from being a Western Conference All Star forward which is no small feat at all. He wasn't a 2007 NBA All Star, but he's actually coming off a career best year in which he posted 22.4ppg, 6.6rpb, 2.4 apg, 1.1 spg, and 0.7bpg. His 39% stroke from downtown and 84.1% from the charity stripe are also very nice. I'm not sold on his defense, but he's still young and athletic enough to improve in that facet of the game with proper tutoring.

Given his skillset, he's an obvious fit for Nellieball, but as long as the Warriors don't lose both Matt Barnes and Mickael Pietrus this offseason, they don't really have a need for another swingman. Rashard Lewis is obviously going to come with a very expensive price tag too, but you never know what could go down when it's all said and done.

Should the Warriors be looking into bringing Rashard Lewis to the Bay? Where do you think he'll end up?

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swingman

He'd be an upgrade over Jackson, but the price would likely be too high for us. As much as i like his game and skillset, he just never seemed very clutch to me. Maybe that comes from playing 2nd banana to Ray Allen. I dunno. There's no denying that Rashard deserves a big payday as a FA, but i don't think the Warriors will pursue him.

by ssmokinjoe on May 25, 2007 10:01 PM PDT reply actions

absolutely not

He's a slightly taller version of Al Harrington.

He does not improve our rebounding and he plays zero defense.

Harrington might actually be more versatile offensively anyways.

Short answer is no
long answer is hell no since he wants the big money

by OptionZero @ Golden State Of Mind on May 25, 2007 10:06 PM PDT reply actions

lets go Warriors!

try and get this guy. He is obviously better than Barnes and Pietrus and much better at free throws than anyone on the team, except sarunas. Lets sign this guy to make a statement or use as trade bait for KG!

by ballin on May 25, 2007 10:51 PM PDT reply actions

Another (expensive) mouth to feed

If it seems like he'd be a perfect fit for the Warriors, it's because we already have players like him. Like Atma said, unless we somehow lose all the guys rumored to be up for trade/release (J-Rich, Harrington, Barnes/Pietrus), I just don't see a need here.

"The Dunk"

by orangino on May 25, 2007 11:29 PM PDT reply actions

to me

he is just a better al harrington

by djchuckdeez on May 25, 2007 11:35 PM PDT reply actions

versus

The biggest difference between Lewis and Harrington is that Rashard's offensive skillset is years ahead of Al's and much, much more polished. The rawness of Al's offense lends one to believe that he'll have a handful of no-show games in a season to go with an equal handful of big production nights. Rashard Lewis will give you steady good numbers.

by ssmokinjoe on May 26, 2007 3:43 AM PDT up reply actions

he's much like Al Harrington

in that he is a average rebounder for a 3 and a terrible one as a 4. He isn't much or a passer or a defensive player. Much better scorer though

Its all moot anyway they have no money to sign this guy

by Zig on May 26, 2007 3:12 PM PDT up reply actions

What I want to know

Is where the money is going to come from to even attempt to sign a Rashard Lewis. If you want to keep Monta, and you want to keep Biedrins, and you already have the Foyle/Jackson/Richardson/Baron/Harrington contract monstrosities, oh, and you also have a first round draft pick to sign, then where on earth does Rashard Lewis money come from in this equation? Certainly not from losing Barnes and Pietrus, or even Jasikevicius for that matter.

by jonathan on May 26, 2007 4:03 AM PDT reply actions

you're not

there is zero chance this is happening

by Zig on May 26, 2007 3:13 PM PDT up reply actions

Pure Trouble

OZ's got it right: this guy's an over-priced pack of deep trouble, and will be a HEAVY drag on any team dumb enought to pay him big bucks. (Fortunately, unless we want to package JRich in a sign and trade we need not worry much about his pollutant effect on the Warriors; Cohan ain't gonna jump the cap for a loser like Lewis, and he hardly fits the team's new psyche, since the one thing this guy is NOT is a team player.) I get the willies just thinking about him with a "The City" jersey. Let's start looking at options that can make this team continue moving forward. This guy's just too big a risk to ruin everything (and I hardly think Nellie would even want him unless he were to undergo a huge personality change).

by johnl on May 26, 2007 10:39 AM PDT reply actions

werwerwerwer

I'm gonna say he ends up in new york. hahaha.

"I make love to pressure." -Stephen Jackson

by coma @ Golden State Of Mind on May 26, 2007 10:47 AM PDT reply actions

People need to look at championship

teams and how they are built

You need role players, rebounders and most of all defensive players

Guys like Bruce Bowen and Okur and Prince

The only way I could see adding a guy like this is getting rid of J_rich.

Doesn't matter anyway they will barely be able to sign their own players let alone look at someone like Lewis

by Zig on May 26, 2007 3:10 PM PDT reply actions

as long as he

either goes east or gets severely overpaid thus killing some western conference team's cap, i dont care where he goes.

by the evil monkey on May 26, 2007 5:46 PM PDT reply actions

he would cost too much

the Warriors can't afford him

Marv Albert: "I ain't trippin'!"

by ZombieWarrior on May 26, 2007 6:49 PM PDT reply actions

He's gonna end up in Portland

Just anywhere but here. But if he does end up in Portland and they move Randolph for any pg:

PG: just anyone really who doesn't suck and can pass the ball well, doesn't need to score
SG: Roy
SF: Lewis
PF: Aldridge
C: Oden

I would not want to play those guys, good shot already at being a playoff team.

by awesomer @ Golden State Of Mind on May 26, 2007 7:00 PM PDT reply actions

They already have 2 PGs who don't suck

Jarrett Jack and Sergio Rodriguez.

Basically, they're stacked. It would be so fun being their GM right now. No matter what they do, they're almost guaranteed to be a 45-50-win perennial playoff team for the next 5-10 years. With a couple of really shrewd moves (and a bit of luck, with players blossoming and such) they could be serious championship contenders.

On topic: I'd certainly take Rashard Lewis as a marginal upgrade over Al Harrington, but as has been mentioned here a million times, we don't need him and we can't afford him.

by Sleepy Freud on May 26, 2007 8:04 PM PDT up reply actions

i think they need pg help

they have a good front court but i totally question jarret jack's talent, I don't know how much better the guy is going to be. He is definitely improving but I think they can use an upgrade.

by djchuckdeez on May 27, 2007 4:55 AM PDT up reply actions