i'm happy this is finally over. this article isn't great, the title pretty much sums it up. http://msn.espn.go.com/nba/news/2002/0919/1433938.html SEATTLE -- Rashard Lewis is staying in Seattle with the SuperSonics, the team that drafted him in the second round out of high school in 1998. Lewis The Sonics announced Thursday that they have re-signed their 6-foot-10 starting small forward to a seven-year contract. Although neither the team nor Lewis' agent, Carl Poston of Houston, would discuss details, Lewis is believed to have gotten $60 million in guaranteed salary. Lewis, who flirted with signing as an unrestricted free agent with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, also apparently has a chance to earn $15 million in performance bonuses. It's also thought the deal contains an out clause in which Lewis can choose whether to become a free agent after the fifth year. Lewis, 23, averaged a career-high 16.8 points and seven rebounds in 71 games for Seattle last season, his fourth with the Sonics. He led the team in rebounding, was second in scoring and had 16 double-doubles. Lewis said it was his intention to sign with the Sonics all along. Besides Dallas, Lewis talked to his hometown Houston Rockets. Neither the Mavericks nor the Rockets could match the Sonics' offer. ``I've been waiting for this the whole summer,'' Lewis told a news conference Thursday. ``I wanted to get this done at the beginning of the summer, but it got done now and I'm extremely happy about it. I wasn't necessarily close to going to another team.'' The Sonics want to make Lewis one of their two main offensive weapons this season, along with eight-time All-Star point guard Gary Payton although Payton, headed into the final year of his contract, is angry with team owner Howard Schultz for not granting him a contract extension. The Sonics won 45 games last season and lost to San Antonio in the first round of the playoffs. After trading power forward Vin Baker to the Boston Celtics during the offseason, the Sonics also are building around young talents Desmond Mason and Vladimir Radmanovic. ``I'm back with my family, the family that I started with,'' Lewis said. ``I grew with these guys and I'm going to continue to grow with them for the next seven years. Hopefully, I can finish my career here.'' Lewis called his coach, Nate McMillan, Saturday to tell him he was ready to accept the Sonics' deal. Sonics general manager Rick Sund flew to Houston in June to talk to Lewis and Poston. Sund said Lewis decided in the end he wanted to stay in Seattle to play for McMillan and a franchise with a lot of young, promising players. ``This organization is pointed in the right direction,'' Sund said. ``We had the youngest team in the Western Conference to make the playoffs last season and we're going forward.'' McMillan said Lewis has unlimited potential. ``I think that basically depends on how hard he works,'' McMillan said. ``Now, Rashard has to learn how to play a different role on our team. It will take some time.'' Poston said he wasn't surprised it took so long to get a contract from the Sonics. ``It's always tough,'' he said. ``Any time you're doing negotiations with a contract as large as this, it takes a lot of time. I mean there's posturing here, there's posturing there. We just wanted to get in before training camp.'' The Sonics' training camp begins Oct. 1. Lewis was chosen with the 32nd pick of the 1998 draft by the Sonics out of Alief Elsik High School near Houston. In 251 career games, Lewis has averaged 12.2 points and 5.6 rebounds. During the 2000-01 season, he was ninth in the NBA in three-point shooting percentage.
