No. Allen is already finishing a max contract. His "max" is different than a player coming off a rookie contract's max.
He got the very 1st max, yes? He's excellent, worth starting @8 for @5/yr...who will give him much more than that on the open market???
Oh, and Cat -- what will he ask for after the season? What will he get? 6 year extension starting @6.5?
I remember when Ray first came into the league I thought that this guy was one of the most naturally gifted players that I've ever seen. IMO Allen underachieved during his career. He could've reached the levels of Kobe and TMac today if he tried hard enough. He's going to be worth 60-70 mil. for five or six years, but not more. The guy is already 29 years old.
I think he should be considered just a tad under TMac and Kobe. He is a great player who has been undervalued simply because he has played the majority of his career in Milwuakee. He is in the same class as Hakeem in terms of being a guy who doesn't promote himself, just goes out and does his job at a high level, but plays on a mid-market team. If "The Dream" had played for LA or NY he would be viewed as arguably the greatest center to ever play but, because he was in Houston, he gets overlooked ALOT. Same goes for Ray. He has been a great player in his career and is still in his late 20's. He deserves to get payed as one of the elite 2-guards in the game today.
Duh! Will you pay all the other huge contracts handed out this summer? There is a reason that why you are not the Sonics or manager of any other NBA teams.
i wouldn't pay him the kind of money he wants BUT... he's one of the best "character" guys in the league. i'm sure that's a big reason he can ask for a ton of dough. you're not likely to find ray arrested for having an unlicensed gun or getting pulled over and getting caught with weed.
Newsflash, the Max is a cap. Meaning that if you can get more than that cap and people are willing to pay for it than you should pursue it. Personally, I was surprised that the players association agreed to the max since it was about half of what most tier 1 players were making those days and 1/3 of what top 5 were making those days.
No way. 100M over 5 years? He's not worth 20M per season. Hell, in 2 years, he won't be worth 10M a season. By the end of this contract he'll be making 25M and he'll be 34 years old. That is just wrong. If the Sonics decide they don't want him and are going to re-build, I think we should do EVERYTHING in our power to get Rashard Lewis. If we wait till next summer, we can try unloading MoT for shorter contracts, and trading them Spoon/Boki/#1 pick for Rashard Lewis. He doesn't make the MAX, although it's close. I think he makes MoT-type money. A trio of Yao-T-Mac-Lewis is unstopeable, regardless of the other 2 players.
How has he underacheived? With a career average of 20 ppg on 45% shooting, and 40% on 3's, he's been just as good as you could have expected coming out of UConn. He could never reach the level of Kobe and TMac - those guys are much taller, longer, and more athletic. They can post up, take off from far, etc. He's the 3rd best sg in the league - but a very distant 3rd. I wouldn't pay him the money and would look to trade him. You can't pay a guy who isn't a franchise player that kind of money.
Why would the Sonics want to dump Rashard if they are looking to rebuild. He's young, and he's not making crazy money. Having a young improving player, who's salary has a bunch of incentives in it would seem like a good starting piece for a franchise. It's not as good as having one legit franchise players, but it's still worth more than cap room. Especially since having cap room seems like it only brings in players that you have to overpay to land.
Great post. I hate to bring this guy up in this thread, but I'm gonna do it anyway. This is why I had such a problem with guys who would have traded Steve for Allen straight up. Is Ray a very good player yes. Is he a better shooter than Steve. Of course. Is he smarter than Steve. Of course. Can he carry a team, even at the level Steve did. Of course not. The guy is a great number 2, but I would handcuff my team by paying him the max and not having someone who is clearly better than him on the team.
they'll dump Lewis if they get a good offer because: 1. He's not a #1 guy. It's like building a team around a sidekick 2. He has that shoulder. Trust me, with a shoulder injury, even if you don't drastically hurt it, the pain will linger...especially in the duration of 82 games. Lewis is a good player, but he's not a franchise player and that's what Seattle hasn't have since Kemp.
Sure they would. But I don't see "Spoon/Boki/#1 pick" as a good offer him. They need a legitimate player to come back to them, not just cap room and draft picks.
oh no doubt. lewis might not be a superstar or a franchise player, but he's sure not a spoon/boki/#1 player by any means.
Yes, but Seattle is unhappy with Rashard and don't think he's worth the money he's getting. They would rather install Radomanovic as the starter and let him develop. That's what I heard from all the fans I spoke to. Seriously though, Lewis is not worth 8 or 9M for a rebuilding team, but he is worth that much on a contender, because his productivity and efficiency would soar thanks to all the open looks he'd get.
