<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Hey everyone. Just saw your messages. Sorry for taking a day off on Saturday, but I do have a story that might be fairly interesting to Magic fans regarding the contracts of Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard. And there's also this that I uncovered after inspecting the NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement: The free-agent moratorium ends a day earlier this year, meaning free agents can be signed Tuesday (July 10) as opposed to Wednesday (July 11). Length and worth of Lewis' deal and Howard's extension are still somewhat up in the air because of sign-and-trade implications and uncertainty over how high the salary cap will be set. The bottom line: Lewis' deal will be worth between $87.9 million and possibly as much as a staggering $117.2 million. The deal was originally thought to be worth $75 million, but that's actually way too low, I've since learned through a very reliable source. If the salary cap rises north of $56 million, as expected, Lewis will be a rich, rich man. If he gets the MAX out of the Magic, he can get 30 percent of the cap based on his experience level (nine years). His deal could start at $17.04 million next season. Stretched over five years with 8 percent raises, the deal would be worth $99.9 million. If he gets a $15 million starting salary, the deal would be worth $87.9 million over five years. A sign-and-trade would push the deal to six years, 10.5 percent annual raises and be worth a jaw-dropping $117.2 million. Under those paremeters, the final season would net Lewis $24.7 million. On another front, Dwight Howard's five-year extension will most likely be worth $73.3 million. He'll make $6 million next year, the final season of his rookie deal. Then, it jumps to $14.2 million in 2008-09. The fifth year of the extension, which would be worth $21.1 million, would be at Howard's option. As for the sign-and-trade with Seattle, I'm told that it is still very much alive. Lewis, naturally wants this so he can get more money and years on his contract. The Magic want it so that they can clear room to possibly sign Darko Milicic. And Seattle certainly wants something in return for Lewis, even if it is Orlando's three expiring contracts (Carlos Arroyo, Pat Garrity and Keyon Dooling). As far as I can tell, the Artest-for-Turkoglu trade is just a bad rumor. Even though it seems to make a lot of sense because the Magic need some toughness and defense, sources say Orlando isn't about to bring the wacky Artest to Orlando any time soon. Check back tomorrow to floridatoday.com and this blog as I hope to have some more updates on what's going on with the Magic. The summer league starts Monday, so I'll at least get my first look at JJ Redick to see what progress he's made since being freed from the jail that former coach Brian Hill kept him in last season.</div> Source: John Denton-Florida Today
Very informative, thanks for posting that Gators. If we can start signing free agents on July 10, tomorrow should be a very busy day! I'm glad Artest isn't coming to Orlando. I'm not the biggest Hedo fan but Ron Ron is too much of a gamble. Hopefully we can finish that sign and trade with Seattle though. I'd love to have both Shard and Darko, even if we're overpaying Lewis. $117.2 million is crazy but if it helps us win a championship than I'm happy.
