It's ridiculous. Like a 20 ppg scorer is worthless because his team won a few games without him. Realize that events in the basketball world are not isolated to what happened in the last month and that Watson and Wilcox have almost zero chance of playing like this for an entire year. Not to mention that ever since Weiss was fired, Rashard's game has practically been mugged by Bob Hill. He gets the ball in the high post, his best scoring position, about half as much as he used to. If not less. I know this season hasn't exactly been fun, but don't blame our second best player for making the most of what the coach is giving him. Oh, you want a small forward that rebounds and plays defense, too? Great, let's just go trade for Andre Kirilenko. Or Ron Artest. Hell, why don't we just invent a time machine and bring back Larry Bird from the 80s, he'd be perfect! This isn't a fantasy game. Rashard Lewis is a good basketball player, even if he is a 6'10" void of wasted potential. Anybody who says we'd be a better team without him is smoking something a whole lot more potent than marijuana. Let's stop trying to find a scapegoat for this horrible season and put it down all this losing as a team effort. End rant.
Just because he is a good player doesn't mean he isn't replaceable. Tim Thomas was a good player in Milwaukee. Gary Payton was a great player in Seattle. Just because someone is good doesn't mean they fit. I like Lew, but I am not married to keeping him just because he is good.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Sir Desmond:</div><div class="quote_post">Larry Bird didn't play much D.</div>Is that why he was selected to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 1982, '83, and '84?
No one said that we'd be a better team without Sweet Lew but I will go on record as saying that we can be a better team if we replace Sweet Lew with the right player(s). I actually think that Rashard is one of the better small forwards in the game but for a cost strapped franchise it doesn't make "cents" to shelve out max dollars to a secondary option. If he is threatening to leave b/c he is questioning how Shultz and Co. do business doesn't it make sense to shop him around to see what is available for a player or his magnitude in his prime? Personally I don't think that Sweet Lew (on a max contract) is the type of player that we can rely on to put us amongst the league's elite. Do I want him gone? Absolutely not, but would I want him to stay and watch Wilcox, Collison, Swift, Petro, and/or Ridnour gone b/c we can't afford to pay them--then my answer is to explore your options. There is little depth behind Ray and Sweet Lew so for us to trade Rashard we'd have to get a good wing man in return. Again, I've watched Sweet Lew transform himself from a teary eyed high school senior to one of the premier shooting small forwards in this league. That being said unless you are a small forward named Carmelo, LeBron, Paul Pierce, or Tracy McGrady I wouldn't feel comfortable offering a max extension for your services. So that is why, at this juncture in his career, I feel that our best available trade asset is Sweet Lew. His contract is really the driving force behind me wanting him to be shopped.
I actually think that this team has everything that it needs right now, too bad Watson and Wilcox joined the team so late. Rashard provides us with the occasional isolation post game, but we're seeing the Wilcox can do that somewhat well too. What exactly would you guys want in return for Shard? We already have plenty of threes, good rebounders, and young talent at center. The only thing I could think of would be a veteran center to train Petro and Swifty, but we already have Sikma for that. Besides, Shard is too valuable to give up for something like that. The one thing that we don't have is an elite defender to guard positions 1 through 3. I know he's a head case but Ron Artest is the only guy in the league who would be worth trading Rashard away for.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 44Thrilla:</div><div class="quote_post">Is that why he was selected to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 1982, '83, and '84?</div> I subscribe to Charles Barkley's opinions, so screw you.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Sir Desmond:</div><div class="quote_post">I subscribe to Charles Barkley's opinions, so screw you.</div> I have recently been to Oklahoma City, and I met a black man who did not play for the Hornets or the Cowboys...so I must say the Charles is not a 100% reliable source. I will however stand behind Charles anytime he has something really nasty to say about a player or coach that I don't like. In those instances he is really funny and not at all biased, predjudiced or deliberately overly dramatic in any way shape or form.
