Bianchi: Big salary begs more of Magic's Rashard Lewis

[ivDT]

imo, the lewis signing would've sucked even if we paid him exactly what was he was worth.

[Ktron]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/b ... 8162.story

This explains a lot about his recent slump, I think it can be hard to focus when he's dealing with this and the recent injury.

It can't help that Philly is letting Dwight get his and sticking tight to the shooters to make sure we can't kill them with threes.

[Howard Mass]

We all know that Lewis got way overpaid.

Disagree. It's not a commonly held belief that he was necessarily overpaid. I believe there are those (cough, mhec, cough) that believe we needed to pay him more than the max to get him here and that a team like...Cleveland...made a late try for him which made us up our offer.

Of course, it's all a bunch of hooey, he was grossly overpaid and it'll affect us for years. I still like the guy though, it wouldn't be a problem if our billionaire owner on his deathbed wasn't cheap. I'd rather be like Carnegie and blow all my money on charitable causes (sports causes a lot of happiness) before death than die a rich man.

Yes, he did get overpaid.

There was rumblings that teams made a late play for him but I still do not believe you pay Lewis that kind of money.

What is done is done and while I like Lewis, he is overpaid and that contract hurts.

[fendilim]

Isn't it that the last year of the contract isn't guranteed?

[lovehoops01]

You know, I'm not really one of those people who really gets down on guys for what they get paid. If someone was willing to give them that, then wouldn't we all take it if we could?

I just want everyone to play as well as they can and when important times like the playoffs come around especially, to really buckle down and focus. I don't care if they make the league minimum or they have the top contract in the league, I want them to leave it all on the court.

I am sure that all these guys have things going on in their personal lives that we know nothing about that can affect the quality of their play. They're only human, and people sometimes lose sight of that because they all make so much money.

And sports writers (and actually the media in general) tend to like to focus on how much they get paid. Especially when guys struggle.

The problem is....the team needs him to perform at his optimal level because his contract prevents the Magic from putting a lot of other really skilled guys around him and Dwight.

I put a little of the onus on the Magic here, too, though. They have been close with this group to being special. They are about to open a new building. I don't think they ought to let the team talent level fall around them to the level that they are the eighth seed or are out of the playoffs completely because they don't want to pay the luxury tax. For one, it wouldn't be fair to Dwight and how hard he is working. They certainly can't ask Dwight to do a lot more. It's not really fair to the fans either, for that matter.

It's just hard to watch year after year as guys who have been given huge roles on the team are allowed to walk because the team doesn't want to pay the luxury tax. They clearly were considered important to the team because they were given a lot of playing time. A lot of them aren't looking for more than $5 mil or $6 mil per. (I know ONLY $5 mil. But that's just the way it is when you own a pro sports team.) They had to realize the situation the payroll would be in when they agreed to sign Rashard.

And one other thing here that relates to something Otis was quoted as saying recently. About allowing Grant and Keyon to leave to protect Dwight and his ability to be the leader of the team because those guys were such strong personalities. Dwight hasn't been deep in the playoffs ever and only has been in the playoffs a little. He doesn't have much experience with what to do. To me, he needs some guys who have that experience until he gets a little more. And those guys tend to cost a little more. (I'm not referring to Rashard here -- but to guys like James Posey, or to teams like the Celtics that have put together a bunch of top-quality talent like KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. I know the Magic are in a smaller market, but the Spurs have managed to have Duncan, Ginobili and Parker, too, and they are in a small market and some midlevel salaries as well.)

And yes, Incubus, I also have heard that the final year of the contract is not guaranteed. I heard there are incentives he has to meet to get the last year of the deal. But I also heard that they are not tremendously difficult to meet so that more than likely he will get that sixth season.

[MitchellUK]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/basketball/magic/orl-sportsorlando-magic-notes-042609042609apr26,0,3958162.story

This explains a lot about his recent slump, I think it can be hard to focus when he's dealing with this and the recent injury.

It can't help that Philly is letting Dwight get his and sticking tight to the shooters to make sure we can't kill them with threes.

Certainly wouldn't surprise me if that had contributed to his play over the last month of the season and into the playoffs. Mystery illness for daughter, seriously ill brother, plus the problems he's been having with his knee, plus Philly playing solid defense on him - not conducive to top performance from Lew.

[craig01]

Certainly wouldn't surprise me if that had contributed to his play over the last month of the season and into the playoffs. Mystery illness for daughter, seriously ill brother, plus the problems he's been having with his knee, plus Philly playing solid defense on him - not conducive to top performance from Lew.

That's the biggest reason for his slump in the series.

[magicmamma]

I think the biggest problem is the injury. It dates from around the all star break, and before that he was the most reliable scorer on the team. SVG said Rashard was capable of playing at the time he finally got rested, but he still sat out after he couldn't make it through a morning shoot around when he had been scheduled to return. Between games two and three, he described himself as about 70%. Players and coaches are going to downplay the extent of injuries since the other team will attack any player they see as weak.

The problem is both forwards are injured. Neither is able to take up the slack if the other is rested. Rashard does seem to be getting better, but Hedo doesn't. He's probably recovering a bit between games only to get worse when he plays.

[G-Heel]

We all know that Lewis got way overpaid.

Disagree. It's not a commonly held belief that he was necessarily overpaid. I believe there are those (cough, mhec, cough) that believe we needed to pay him more than the max to get him here and that a team like...Cleveland...made a late try for him which made us up our offer.

Of course, it's all a bunch of hooey, he was grossly overpaid and it'll affect us for years. I still like the guy though, it wouldn't be a problem if our billionaire owner on his deathbed wasn't cheap. I'd rather be like Carnegie and blow all my money on charitable causes (sports causes a lot of happiness) before death than die a rich man.

Yes, he did get overpaid.

There was rumblings that teams made a late play for him but I still do not believe you pay Lewis that kind of money.

What is done is done and while I like Lewis, he is overpaid and that contract hurts.

Exactly. No team could have sign him close to what we gave him. We keep on outbidding ourselves. It's just crazy, Otis is an idiot.

Yea... what done is done.. but it feel a bit better venting about it