Maybe I shouldn’t blame Rashard for making a great business decision and taking advantage of complete idiots. I’m pretty sure a lot of people would do the same thing.
But at the same time his reasons for the move are a bit weak.
One of your man arguments was that Rashard never really talked about rings…well here are some quotes from the man himself.
“I’ve had my eye on Orlando ever since Dwight got there, and when my contract came up, Orlando was my No. 1 choice,” Lewis said by cell phone from his home in Houston. “You win championships with a big man. And I think Dwight’s the kind of guy who can take you to the finals. I feel really happy about it and excited.”
-I’m not so sure Rashard has ever watched the Magic play…its not like they really like throwing to ball to Dwight. He does realize they have nobody else right? If you wanted more proof that agents are great BSers, read this quote;
“Yes, we’ve agreed, absolutely,” Dutt said. “We think it’s a perfect place to win a championship.”
-The team that stumbled into the playoffs at the #8 seed with no signs of a nucleus or style is the perfect place to win a championship. Forget playing with LeBron, Shaq and D-Wade or even Oden. This is the perfect place. I was over calling Rashard dumb because of the money…but if he really thinks that this is a move that will get him a title…wow.
“I had eyeballs on Cleveland, and Miami was most definitely high on my list, and Portland. I had Plans A, B, C and D, but Orlando was Plan A,” Lewis said. “I wanted to give the Sonics the first crack at it, since I was there nine years and they made me into a man. I had a great meeting with them, but I felt they were rebuilding, two or three years from getting into the playoffs.”I’d be 30 by then, and it’s not something I wanted to do, raising a young team. I know the Magic are a young team, but their young guys, like Dwight, have been around the game.”
–I don’t even have to make a joke about that last part do I? Didn’t think so.
But things get even more complicated courtesy of ESPN Insider Chris Sheridan’s blog. It’s uber-complicated talking about numbers and such.
And halfway through this blog entry…I find out exactly why Rashard Lewis is talking like this. It’s not because he’s dumb…it’s because of Cleveland.
“Orlando made the playoffs last year and I see no reason why we shouldn’t just go up from there,” he said. “I could see anybody going to the Finals from the East because it’s so wide open. Cleveland went (to the Finals) this year and they’re still a lot of good teams, but a championship chance is right there for a lot of teams.”
Cleveland’s run to the Finals may botch the Eastern Conference for years to come. Teams in the East are just trying to make a move to hit a home run, to open a window for a year or two. This is a significant reason why the East isn’t going to overcome the West anytime soon. In the West, you have to build your team a certain way to compete. You can’t just hot-shot any moves and think you’re putting yourself right in the race. Unfortunately out East, one move can take you from pretender to contender. But truth be told, the only team that is really building the right way is Charlotte and they had no choice in the matter. So Rashard, I don’t blame you for taking a payday and being fooled into thinking you could win a title with a team who spent its cap room on you and can’t really make any more moves even though they need to. *gasp* Orlando…well I do blame the Magic for being run by morons for the last 11 years. You don’t trade Shaq, you don’t spend all that money on T-Mac and trade him for Steve Francis. Billy Donovan? I don’t want to go on. I do blame you Cleveland, your stroke of luck could potentially ruin the Eastern Conference for good.
- Darko and his agent are quite peeved at the Magic. Mainly his agent, who has essentially called them ‘dirty rotten liars’. I think he should get fired. How do you ask for $10M for a guy who hasn’t even had 10 double-doubles in his career?
- Sidenote…you ever notice how (not to be racist) big white guys just completely fall off of the map after they get a big payday. Troy Murphy? Chris Kaman? Joel Pryzbilla? Brian Cardinal? Brian Scalabrine? Exactly. No one has figured out how to use Przybilla like Mo Cheeks did…he just ran a pick and roll for him, sending him straight to the basket. He either got a dunk or was in perfect position to rebound.
- Chris McCosky is also a little peeved. He’s the guy who put the Chauncey is re-signing thing. I don’t think he should be mad because we all know he is anyway, it is more when instead if.
- Will Matt Carroll still be effective after finally getting a payday and some security? Only time will tell…only time will tell.
- If the Magic pull this Hedo Turkoglu for Ron Artest deal, I will take everything I’ve ever said about them back. Then they would be contenders.
- Jason Richardson is feeling bittersweet about the trade. The guy finally got to the playoffs, now he has to take another team there. This one is better though.
- UNDECIDED UPDATE: Alonzo Mourning and Grant Hill.
- Memphis is looking at a select few guys. Out of Nocioni, Varejao and Mikki Moore I believe Nocioni would be the best fit. Of course that means they are going to sign Varejao.
- Morris Peterson wants to play for the Jazz.
- If the Kings manage to get rid of their psycho cancer (Artest) and pick up David Lee, I will personnally clothesline Kevin Pritchard. By the way, if Artest lands on New York, David Stern should make it mandatory that the Knicks get followed around for a year and a documentary is made onthem. I would pay money to see it.
- I had a feeling that is how it went down…this is the only way Brian Cardinal could have gotten a major payday. From now on when a shitty player gets overpaid, I am just going to imagine this scenario in my head. Awesome.
- If Chris Mihm is Chicago’s answer for a low-post scoring…..
And with that I give you your content on this 4th of July. I will now go drown my sorrows in barbeque and fireworks. Maria Sharapova needs to stay away from the Williams sisters. Far, far away. Because of them she probably hates black people. And I found out in a text message. Damn you ESPN.