I found this article at RealGM. Does this open the door for the Rockets, as well as the Mavericks? http://www.dallasbasketball.com/headline_A.asp?pr= Lewis' Hump Day DB.com Scoop On Sonics' Ultimatum By Mike Fisher -- DallasBasketball.com DallasBasketball.com has learned that the sick-and-tired Sonics have decided that Wednesday is Hump Day -- because if Rashard Lewis doesn’t come over the hump and sign with Seattle by that day, they are threatening to sever ties and free him to sign with Dallas. Our very latest on the Lewis Sweepstakes: Sources close to Lewis tell us that behind closed doors with Lewis, Seattle is angered by his reluctance to accept an offer that has been bumped up to $64 million over seven years, and that the Sonics are informing the free agent that their ultimatum, if not accepted, will lead to them signing replacement part Lee Nailon and not cooperating with Lewis’ attempts to get bigger money via a sign-and-trade. “If that’s true,’’ Mavs owner Mark Cuban says as a response to the scoop, “I think we can afford to wait until Wednesday. Actually, we’ll wait as long as it takes.’’ Seattle is unwilling to be so patient with the 6-10 small forward. The offer had been $60 mil base (in comparison to the $4.5 mil-a-season, three-year deal Dallas can offer) but was recently upped to $64 mil. And the incentive package that Seattle says represents Lewis’ “max-money desire’’ of $90 mil? Our sources tell us the $15 million package features three key “reachables”: 1) Lewis must play in 50 wins; 2) Lewis must help the club to the second round of the playoffs; 3) Lewis must average 9.25 rebounds per game. Next question: Are those really “makeable’’ incentives in Seattle? Maybe. Are they makeable in Dallas? Almost certainly, meaning the real way for Lewis to get the full amount is to be moved in a sign-and-trade. Problem: The Sonics view participating in a sign-and-trade as “giving in’’ to Lewis’ demands, and may, as one source says, “make a statement and makes an example’’ of Lewis. But, says one NBA exec, “Don’t over-romaticize that. Seattle has got to get something out of this.’’ But what is that something? A Dallas exec concedes that sign-and-trade talk that once laughably included Seattle’s request of “two of the Big 3’’ (Dirk, Nash, Fin) has turned more realistic in the last two weeks. Now there are discussions focusing on a three-way, with Seattle settling for landing a fat-contracted player in the final year of his deal who might next season create a cap vacancy of $6.5 mil or so. (That, and the dumping of Gary Payton, would put Seattle in position to be a major-player in the Summer-of-2003 Duncan Derby.) Yes, the Mavs have tried to make Tariq Abdul-Wahad part of the giveaway, with no enthusiastic takers. Dallas will happily do the three-year thing. But the Mavs prefer the sign-and-trade route. “Then,’’ a source says, “they wouldn’t have to worry about a max deal in three years. They’ve got Rashard long-term at the $64 million. As long as they give up nothing big, it’s perfect for them.’’ The Sonics’ approach with Lewis has turned more combative that ever. Seattle reps have recently told Lewis that his plan to follow up a three-year Mavs contract with a max deal is in fact what they call “maybe money,’’ and they tell him that as Dallas’ fourth option, he’ll never put up “max-worthy’’ stats. Privately, they have also attacked the Postons brothers, calling them “just football agents’’ and suggesting they are working only part-time for Lewis while filling his head with financial fantasy. Meanwhile, Cuban and the Mavs are still in every-other-day contact with Lewis’ agents but are sticking with the “take-your-time’’ approach. “All along, we’ve recognized that this is a life-altering decision for the kid, so we give him his space,’’ Mavs boss Donnie Nelson says. And the Sonics? They are about out of patience, and therefore about out of space.
kind of feel bad for rashard lewis. first he gets screwed in the draft by the rockets, and now hes getting screwed in free agency. i know what others will say -- he should be happy whatever he gets considering that he will be making millions, but still, compared to his peers, it seems like hes getting a raw deal
Screwed my butt. 64 million is more that he deserves and he has the potential to max money if he puts up max money stats. How is that being screwed.
Who exactly are Rashard's peers? If he is to be believed then it must be Kobe Bryant. Screw Rashard and his selfish ass. He aint good enough for max money.
He's getting screwed because Seattle made him a promised and now they broke it. He could have cashed in and chose to stick with the team that drafted him for less, that's being unselfish. People need to stop being so righteous, it's easy for us regular folk to say he's greedy, but if we were in Rashard's shoes, we'd feel the same way he does.
Who offered him more money than Sea, a couple years ago? And he did "cash" in by taking the biggest possible contract the Sonics could offer him at the time (he didn't have Bird rights in the summer of 00).
I believed that toronto offered him a bigger contract but he chose to stick with sea instead out of loyalty i guess. No i don't have a link or source but I follow rocket's news every day and i believe it was a sporting news article in yahoo sports some times back during the beginning of summer.
Welcome to the land of the Luxury Tax. Teams are balking all over the place at signing guys to huge deals. No one gets the max unless they are, without question, max-worthy. That means they not only have to be great players but also a great draw to the arena AND be leaders on their team. In Seattle, only Gary Payton is the guy that fits that mold. At the moment (although it could change with Griffin and/or Yao), Francis is the only guy like that on the Rockets. Teams cannot afford to hand out max-money deals to every Tom, Dick and Rashard just to keep them on the team.
man i still don't think he will make a descion by wed. I think the rockets are on his mind and he is waiting for us to re-sign and sign our players and draft picks before doing anything.
They also offered that to Cat... Did Lewis re-sign first or not? I think the idea that Lewis would get overtaxed in Tor, would make up for the fact that he would be getting paid less in Sea. With Tor, that extra money might have only equaled what he would have been paid in Sea, after taxes. Tor was able to offer like 6 mill/year for a FA. Sea and Hou were allowed to re-sign their guys for like 4.5/year.
You are joking right? Lewis is being offered more money than he deserves. He would not fit in with the Rockets. We already have more SF"S than we need. I don't want him taking time away from Nachbar.
And how do you know if Nachbar is going to be worth anything? Anyone remember how precious Rodderick Rhodes was? How do you spell his name? Where is he now? Just as a reminder, take a look at the three players the Rockets drafted ahead of Rashard Lewis. Byrce Drew? I don't even remember the other two.
Question: what's Seattle's incentive for doing a three-way just to land an expiring contract? Wouldn't just letting him walk amount to the same thing? Or is there a possibility of landing a decent player and/or pick? If Dallas parts with any of their core three, they're stupid. The only conceivable one out of the three would be Finley, and that's a harsh way to treat a veteran star that's still productive, even if he is getting on in years.
I can't believe some people think Rashard is worth a dime more than 60M. The contract they're offering him is ludicrous on its own. Trade Rashard, trade Payton. Start over. It's over. Do you guys think the Rockets would trade Mo T after all the hard work he's done this offseason? I feel bad for Payton. He deserves a championship. If I were the Sonics, I'd try to pull off a trade with Portland. Stoudamire, Bonzi Wells, and Scottie Pippen for Payton, Rashard and Booth, Drobnjak or James (Sonics's choice). Stoudamire Wells/Mason Pippen/Mason Radomanovich James/Drobnjak That's great considering Pippen will free 25M in cap space, and Stoudamire and Wells become the core of the group.
I think the best thing to happen from the Rockets perspective is for Lewis to sign with Dallas. Seattle would be weakened and I don't think that the Mavericks would be significantly improved. I don't think he is any better than Nachbar, so why cause possible chemistry, or cap problems with the team in the future? As far as Rashard on the Mavs, there is a point where you get diminishing returns if everyone on the team can fill it up, but nobody can play defense, or get tough rebounds. See: Denver Nuggets in the 70's and 80's. Rashard is closer to Matt Bullard than Bobby Jones on the defensive end. Because of this I don't think that Rashard will get the minutes and touches to fully develop his talents with Dallas, or Houston. His best short and long term interests lie in Seattle, in my opinion.
"Nachbar is going to run Rashard Lewis into oblivion like I ride icelandic harlots during Odinfest." Best Blinebury impersonation. Hey DavidS, your sig cracks me up with the projected stats for the starters next year. I especially like how you throw 2 steals a game at Mobes because he didn't have any other significant stats besides scoring almost Jordan like numbers on a team where he will be the third option. The other things I really like regarding the whole Rashard Lewis thing is when people treat it like if we added Rashard we would be adding an automatic 16 points a game to whatever our score would have been otherwise. Like Smoothie's shots per game thread. It's like when I was in the 7th grade and I used to break out my streeter and smith in algebra while the teacher was talking and devise all sorts of fantasy trades on paper. I realized that if the Rockets could somehow get the squad I invisioned for them they would be scoring about 170 points a game with their 10 man rotation.
