Rashard Lewis & Mike Bibby

[Andrew]

Well, the season is getting closer to its finale, and the Sonics are out of the playoffs. It's not the fault of any one player in particular, but one Sonics player who has recently had a payday is Rashard Lewis - significant, as he more or less held the team to ransom to get his current deal.

So far, Lewis has averaged 17.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg and 1.8 apg. Also worthy of mention, 1.27 spg.

My question is: Did Lewis deserve the deal, based on his performance so far?

I feel that again potential was a factor in Lewis getting his generous new contract. The comparisons to Kobe and KG were made - around their 5th season, they were bonafide superstars. Lewis is in his 5th season, and while his numbers are not terrible, they are not the all-world numbers that his potential seemed to suggest.

I know his deal is for seven years, but I think we can be forgiven for placing him under the microscope this year. After all, whenever a young player gets a deal like Rashard's, there is increased pressure - almost an obligation - to perform well the following year. Otherwise the talk is of how the player has grown lazy, content with his large deal and uninterested in fulfilling the potential that allowed him to demand all those dollars in the first place.

I thought Rashard Lewis would make a little more noise this season after getting that new contract. It's a little difficult when the Sonics are struggling, but it could be argued if Lewis was playing up to his potential, then Seattle would be in much better position. Yet his numbers are more or less the same as last year. His scoring is up 1 ppg, but his turnovers per game are also higher. His rebounds are slightly down, and he is shooting the ball at a lower percentage. Overall, he's not producing the Kobe/KG-like numbers he pointed to, when asking for the maximum.

He has plenty of time left to live up to his potential and prove that he can play up to his salary, but thus far, IMHO, he has not shown that he's at the level he suggested when he opted out and demanded $100mil (which of course he did not get).

Your thoughts?

Last edited by Andrew on Thu Jun 12, 2003 8:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

tmac wasn't the best when orlando gave him his contract maybe seattle just didnt want to give up hope.

i dont think we can criticze players for not being as good as tmac and kobe those are pretty high expectations!!! 18 and 7 aren't shabby

i wouldnt count the conics out the playoffs yet, there 6-1 since ray allen joined the team and hes benn playing some awesome ball

tmac wasn't the best when orlando gave him his contract maybe seattle just didnt want to give up hope.

But Tmac had far more potential then Rashard did, plus boundless athleticism. At the time in their careers I'd rather give Tmac the $

i wouldnt count the conics out the playoffs yet, there 6-1 since ray allen joined the team and hes benn playing some awesome ball

I don't usually like to say never either, because I'm usually proven wrong, but the Sonics are below .500 and in 9th place (add a loss to Utah today), so the numbers are against them right now. Things certainly went awry after their surprising start to the season.

damn, well i beleive the sonics mite be htere next year then.

what if they get lebron, or carmelo anthony.

or even that Collison guy from Kansas(i think) he seems to be pretty good if he gos into the draft.
even Darius Rice might fit into there team nicely.

It would be interesting if they signed Gary Payton in the offseason as one scenario suggested, though I don't see that happening. If they can improve their roster this offseason and if Lewis steps up, they might indeed be there next year.

Back to the original topic though, any more thoughts on Lewis?

i told y'all he was over-rated be4 just like i told y'all the lakers would win championship

Hm, well the Lakers haven't won yet either. Rashard Lewis is very good, I think if he bulks (and Kobe-like bulk up, not Derrick Coleman or Shawn Kemps idea of bulking up) and he add's some post moves he will be complete. He is quick, big and can shoot. He could, potentially, end up like Dirk Nowitzki or Chris Webber... Depends on what he works on. I don't think he's a bust at all considering what the likes of Brian Grant and Allan Houston earn..

I wouldn't say a bust either, but the expectations are/were fairly high, especially given the fuss he made about getting paid what he was worth.

Yeah but he was selling himself to try and get a 100 mil contract, so of course he is going to market himself as a player with tmac type potential. Also remember when Tmac went to Orlando he was the main man, but Lewis has been just a role player. If they (sonics) put him in a position to take control of this team, maybe, just maybe, he will explode ala Tmac...

Granted, but remember when T-Mac signed with Orlando he was considered the bonus, because Grant Hill was the bonafide superstar who would turn the Franchise around, with T-Mac as his sidekick. We all know how that saga turned out.

Kobe has been able to put up impressive numbers despite being paired up with a high scoring teammate, and he doesn't have a PG like Gary Payton to get him the ball (as Lewis had until the trade). I guess it was expected that Lewis would make the leap from role player to sidekick/one half of a deadly duo as Kobe did, expectations that came from dollars.

Yeah true, but those guys had the ball in their hands more. Payton did like to control the offense alot so perhaps the Sonics thought they didn't gel so they got rid of GP. But I think in 2 years, Rashard will be an allstar. I don't think he is under any of my expectations.. yet.

He is a good player that could be very good, but unless Chicago is able to swing that multi team trade, Dalibor Bagaric, Rick Brunson, and a draft pick for TD, CWebb and KG, then Rashard won't be an all star for a while yet

I am very dissapointed in Lewis this season, his 3's had gone down a lot. I mean, last season he bombed 3's every single game, but he only does it occasionally this season. He can't even average one 3 per game. Plus his rebounds and steals are down from last year. And his TO's had gone up. He just doesn't deserve the max.

Lewis is definitely very disappointing this year. Obviously, you salary doesn't speak for yourself. It may speak for your potential but not always for your stats. And after during the summer when it was the Sonics trying to get him, and Lewis thinking he deserved even more, is just plain wrong. He should be playing better and he knows it, and he has the potential to. Even if he did play with GP, if he could play well enough than he'd be the number one option. But he can't play with consistency, reason why he's not the number one option.

Since another offseason is drawing closer, one where a lot of free agents will demand a lot of dollars, I thought I'd bring this up again, and add Mike Bibby to the discussion. As we all know, both players signed generous new contracts last offseason.

Let's see how they did:

Rashard Lewis 2002/2003 vs 2001/2002: +3.1mpg, -0.016 FG, -0.043 3PT, +0.010 FT, -0.5rpg, =apg, -0.17spg, -0.11bpg, +0.49tpg, +1.3ppg.

Mike Bibby 2002/2003 vs 2001/2002: +0.2mpg, 0.017 FG, 0.039 3PT, +0.058 FT, -0.1rpg, +0.2apg, +0.22spg, -0.04 bpg, +0.63tpg, +2.2ppg.

Fairly significant increases in points per game, but otherwise only slightly better or worse. Worth the money? Too early to tell?

about Lewis.. he's got potentioal, dont say anything like needs to get bulky, or KG needs to bulk up, (have a look at KG's Biseps and tell me if he havent tried to bulk up) thats just the way their bodies are... anyway, if Sonics wouldnt have given him the contract then dalas would, so they took him.

as far as biby goes, well, his team is just at another level, one where u dont need to make big to win!! u know what i mean??!!

Andrew, where do you come up with these ideas for discussions? LOL!
You're good! You should be working as a General Manager in the NBA?

about Lewis.. he's got potentioal, dont say anything like needs to get bulky, or KG needs to bulk up, (have a look at KG's Biseps and tell me if he havent tried to bulk up) thats just the way their bodies are... anyway, if Sonics wouldnt have given him the contract then dalas would, so they took him.

The Sonics did what they had to so that he would stay in Seattle. But this is a guy who was demanding in excess of $100 million. Now, most NBA contracts are an absurd amount of dollars for doing something a lot of people do for pure enjoyment, but we accept that the Shaqs and KGs of the world are worth $20+ million. Has Rashard Lewis proven he's worthy of being one of the most highly paid NBA players? In my opinion, no.

as far as biby goes, well, his team is just at another level, one where u dont need to make big to win!! u know what i mean??!!

If Bibby can step up and have a big game when needed, everything's fine. The Kings are a deep team, so not everyone is going to have great numbers. Bibby also missed around 27 games with injury if I remember rightly, and who knows what he might have done without being limited to playing around two thirds of the regular season? Still, I think those dollars made people (myself included) think that he would take his game even further this year.

Andrew, where do you come up with these ideas for discussions? LOL!

Just pluck them out of my head. Scary thought, isn't it?