This contract is going to cripple Orlando - is he even worth that much - he is a borderline All-Star at best

Do Orlando think that with Howard and Lewis they will win a Championship - or even make the playoffs

I think the is one of the stupidest contracts ever signed ... now every fringe All Star will think they can get this kind of cash.

I think he would be worth around $50 mil for 5 years - not $90

Yeah bad move by orlando, theyre still a 40 win team. I posted it just for the sheer mind-boggling value of it.

It will be interesting to see how both Orlando and Seattle go this year. I don't think either has come out any better after the trades and draft. I think Orlando might have the better team that will do well in the short term.

In the inimitable words of Rod Serling (original Twilight Zone creator and narrator)

"There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone. "

Substitute "the Twilight Zone" for "the Orlando Magic front office"...

Silly, silly contract...Especially
for a guy who hasn't had the most resilient body in the past...

Orlando Magic - welcome to salary cap purgatory...

That is a stupid stupid contract. Orlando are going to be a mediocre team for years to come. Orlando is a second round play-off team, and that's at best with some luck thrown in....

Howards contract extension kicks in next year, and he'll be looking for max once that ends.

This is what is f*&%ed with the NBA. No way Shard is worth to $126 mill over 6. Hell, if I'm Gerald Wallace I'm asking for the same amount from Charlotte.

Look at what KG's contract did to the Wolves, and Orlando is going down the exact same path.

And TR - remember Garnett (at the time) seemed like money well spent... Lewis is a good player - but nothing special... Compared to Garnett (in spite of his rep) who is a HOFer...

odds on Orlando opting out and trying to trade shard around year 4.I would have thought that shard would have got like 20 mill in his last year but wow 25

Ridiculous amount of money. The cap now is 56.63m, it would prob be around 64-66 in 5 years when his contract will be worth 26m - how can any employer justify spending almost ONE THIRD of their employee budget on ONE person???

Add Howards contract by then which should be in the teens of millions and there goes more than half your cap on two players that cant win a championship by themselves.

Sometimes you wonder what the thought process is behind such big decisions. Is there something we as the general public are missing??

Correct Johnny, at the time the Garnett contract was not deemed excessive for his production and his potential to lead the Wolves to the promised land.

Welcome to the crazy world of the NBA....

Orlando is now stuck between a lottery team and an average team. Never good enough to be contenders, but just good enough to make the playoffs and miss out on the lottery.

Cap hell here we come Orlando, and all for Rashard Lewis. I'd understand if it was Duncan or Amare, but c'mon people... Shard Lewis.

Sorry 'More that ONE THIRD'

Lewis is good - and the combo with Howard is a very good one. Both mature guys with a ton of talent and both still improving. The only problem for the Magic is how this restricts what the rest of the roster will be like.

If Nelson can somehow turn into a Billups like player in the next couple of years, and the Magic pick up some good, cheap roleplayers - they could be an Eastern Conference threat.

I see that Howard signed his contract extension today for $85 million over 5. Two players to be paid over $200 million in the next five years. Good luck building a contending team around that.

On a positive note, it looks like Gerald Wallace will resign with my Cats for $57 over 6 with an ETO on the 6. That is a great contract for the Cats. He said he was looking for around 10 mill a year. This leaves us a tonne of money to get a backup PG and big.

Crashes number compared to Lewis..

CRASH
7.525
8.315
9.105
9.895
10.685
11.475

SHARD
16,689
18,441
20,193
21,946
23,698
25,450

I'd take Wallace every day of the week over Shard and his albatross contract. Shard isn't $60 million better that Wallace, and I'm not sure if I'd even do a straight up trade for each other given Crashes all round game.

MJ is learning to become a GM. It only took Mullin and GSW 6 years to work it out.

Good work MJ..
J.Rich, Wallace and Oak is a pretty good nucleus...

i think its pretty good db...wallace had a break out year last year and is gonna get better...oak is the same, just gotta stay healthy, and finally they have a guy to draw double teams (j-rich)...or have u forgotten the numbers he put up in his career? on top of that a good young pg in felton, some solid role players, carroll, hermann...good shooters off the bench as well

jules, it was a compliment....

Good work MJ.
J.Rich, Wallace and Oak IS A pretty good nucleus..


TR, you would be stoked, could go top 4 in the East with a bit of luck..

Yep - `Cats looking real good now... If Morrisson can get it together and May can get some semblance of conditioning (and reliability) the Cats will be one of the better teams in the East...

There`s just so many guys on this team that have the potential to be franchise (or just below) level players - J Rich, Okafor, Wallace... Not to forget Herrmann - who showed potential to be a monster shooter (he showed a lot in the last half of the season)...

Man I am staggered by this contract.

SURELY they know they overpaid for him. His numbers were only good this season as it was a contract season. SURELY they know this. Surely they have seen other teams where max players cripple the cap.

Ugh... they have like 5 bucks left now to sign some back court. Nelson wasn't that good last year. Man, especially with Howard possibly being the next monster in the league, they could have just killed his chances of having a good team built around him.

Man, cannot get over this one!! 120 mil!! reeks of the Allan Houston signing, another overpaid player.

I see Lewis getting injured and Orlando sucking for ages. Then Howard will turn into the next KG, never having the people around him to win a championship.

Not this year DB, but I'd expect playoffs (7th or 8th seed). Going to sign up with Pontel this afternoon for the up coming season.

It will all come down to injuries. If Ammo can become a decent 6th man and our scorer for the second unit and if we can find a nice back-up PG then we'll be set. Would also like another C on the roster. Hollins isn't ready yet and if Emeka goes down we have to run Primoz as our starter. I'd prefer a second unit to include Primoz, McMay and Ammo.

Hermann to be our starter at the PF (if Okafor is our starting C) if we cant sign a good free agent. Our 2nd round pick is looking good to, putting up nice numbers.

C: Brezec/Hollins
PF: Okafor/Hermann/May/Davidson/Harrington
SF: Wallace/Dudley
SG: J-Rich/Carroll
PG: Felton

Trade Harrington and fix the PG situation and it's been a A+ grade off season.

Also have to remember that the rest of the East has improved. Orlando with Shard, Boston with Ray Ray, Atlanta with two lottery rookies that should help immediately, Knicks with Z-Bo (the Knicks won't be able to defend a cracker).

wow...i thought u were being sarcastic...the '...' at the end of the sentences did it for me...i apologize...now im having the same problem with johhny sack - is he being serious?

and 7th or 8th TR - although im a fan of the cats and would love to see that - the east is pretty good these days...the eight would have to look something like cavs, heat, bulls, pistons, raptors, washington, nets, and the magic...then theres boston who have three great players, milwakee with redd and simmons back, new york even...chasing artest, curry and randolph make for a beast frontcourt


and then theres philli.....they seem to be getting worse even year and there in a rebuilding stage..that doesnt make sense

I`m as serious as a heart attack... Tired of teams with headcases and stupid financial management (i was a big Wolves fan til last season) - which seems to be the norm in the NBA these days - with Charlotte being a refreshing change... Charlotte are doing it right, good financial decisions and no head cases - building (with a bit of luck) a contender 2-3 years down the road...

7th or 8th at best, and that's everything going our way. That's Wallace, Okafor, Felton and J-Rich playing 82 games.

Ammo to step up and stop playing like a 2nd round pick and start playing like the 3rd pick in the draft.

Find a good veteran PG to back up Felton, and a good back up centre. I wouldn't say no to chucking some cash at Magloire.

Bill Simmons has some funny stuff on the Lewis signing as usual:

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=16493

No, not Magloire, "Mr one season I made the all star game because everyone else in the East was injured"..

Mihm would be better IMO, if he gets in game shape, does not need to score, leave that to the rest of the lineup..

Maybe Joe Smith (although I am hoping Chi town gets him).

i have no doubt they are good enough .. it just seems so even this year and it seems a lot of teams are gonna miss out...would love to see it happen...magloire would be fine IMO...cheap as chips, former all-star, dont bother explaining why DB - he still was...and hes a solid big...exactly the kind of player they need in fact

I think on the right team Mags could become at double double player again. He's only 29 and his value is rock bottom. He'll get the minutes that will satisfy him at centre and it means we can play Oakfor at the PF. Also always Wallace to become the roaming weakside defender that he excels at.

I'm not talking about offering him MLE money but give him 2 years at $8 mill. Gives time for Hollins to improve or be shipped out.

Mags history with Portland and the Bucks has made him dirt cheap. He's also a consistent 82 gamer which is something dreadfully lacking in the Cats.

I also wouldn't say no to Joe Smith, but I'm guessing he'd rather sign with the Bulls or Philly before Charlotte.

I don't like Mihm. Too many injuries, they guy has never played a 82 game season. His best is 76. We have enough people with injuries worries not to have to add another.

The remain FA I'd like to see in a Cats uni next season are Varejao, Mags and Chucky Atkins. Milicic would of been good..

As demonstrated on Simmons' chat, from basketball-reference.com:

Rashard Lewis Hall of Fame Probability: .002

Bwwahahahahah!!!

I'd give him max money too!

Also note the distinct pickup in stats his contract year last year...

Lewis' page:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/lewisra02.html

Sorry, no way Cats are making the finals. The league has gotten a lot better in about one week. With the signing of j-rich, they've got ONE 20 ppg scorer. Wallace and okafor are good defenders, but then you have relatively poor defenders like felton, morrison, and average ones like j-rich. And i don't even know how Carroll and Hermann defend. It's a good team on paper, but no way are they a 45 win team this year.

and orlando, welcome to salary cap hell. I'm just putting it out there, that i could walk into a GM spot and be a top 5 GM straight away. I honestly could. I think anyone on this website could. what do they think sometimes? Has rashard lewis ever won a game for seattle off his own back? Has dwight howard?

ELG..
to answer your second question...

No, Dwight Howard has never one a game for Seattle off his own back..

It`s just an unbeleivable contract... Isaiah must be smiling from ear to ear... I mean - really an unbelieveble contract - the guy is a 6-10 softie who admittedly is a decent offensive player (but only if he plays in the region 0f 40 min - which for a return of points in the low 20`s aint that great) - but at that kind of money???... At least we have something interesting to discuss this offseason... The Wallace extension has brought the ludicrousness of this contract into sharper focus as well...

Link

And now this - Mikki Moore throws a $10m 3yr contract back at the Nets. Who does this guy think he is, I can`t see him being anything more than a competent back-up... That kind of money for a guy who spent most of his time in the CBA is like winning 1st division Lotto 2 times... Are we going to see a lot of this this off season???... Jason Kapono may have upped some of these johnnie come lately contract expectations into unreasonable territory...

elg, I'll assume when you say finals you mean playoffs??? If not then I agree we won't make the finals, but I like our chances for the playoffs.

Crash and Okafor a better than good defenders, they are top notch defenders. Okafor is a brute in the post and a candidate for DPOY and Wallace is a total lockdown defender.

Last season we went 33-49 with our two stars missing 25 games combined. Lets say we win 50% of those 25 games that would of put as at 45 wins. Easily enough for the playoffs. Orlando made it with a 40-42 record, so we only missed by 7 games as it stands now.

You don't think J-Rich could win us an extra 7 games with a healthy Okafor and Wallace, a productive Ammo???

We didn't have a dominate scorer, we have addressed that with Richardson, Okafor fixes his free throws (59%) then there is no reasons why we can't be an 18ppg - 11 rpb - 2 bpg stud...

Wallace average 18ppg last season, he's also a poor free throw shooter, he's another 20 ppg game along with 8 rpg and chuck in a few steals and blocks.

Richardson becomes a double team threat which we have never had. This will make Ammo's life easier when playing with J-Rich, plus it 's easier for Carroll and the others to get their shots.

7 or 8th seed at best and that includes our starters all playing 82 games. Ammo not being a pussy and Davidson and Dudley having good rookie seasons.

Personally I think Orlando has gone backwards in signing Shard and losing Hill and Darko. I don't think it's that big of a thing. They lost their starting PF and SG and replaced them with a SF. Hedo can't play the SG and it now means Battie becomes the starting PF or C, moving Howard across.

The trainwreck called Atlanta, well who knows with them. They should improve, a year old/wiser and Horford will be huge.

Philly, have they really improved. All they did was add some rookies and the cats had the same record as them last season. We added a 20ppg scorer, they didn't.

Boston, Allen makes them a playoff team but a few injuries and they are lottery bound.

Washington will be around the mark but they are only just better than a .500 team. No front court at all outside Jamieson.

A healthy Bucks should make it, but that all depends on the Yi situation and Mo resigning with them.

New York, well they can get it done on the 'o' end, but lets see them get some stops. Who dominates the low block?? Curry or Z-Bo???

Miami: old and crusty. Shaq should pull the pin and become a cop and they have zero outside of him and Wade.

Indiana.... nothing positive there. JO wants out, and no real talent left after him.

Nets should make it, but who knows. They were .500 for the season.

At the moment I'm only willing to lock in (no order) Detroit
Cavs, Raptors and Bulls for the playoffs. Leaves four spots open.

Who ever makes the Finals from the East is going to get spanked by the West anyway...

"Has rashard lewis ever won a game for seattle off his own back?"

YES... many. How many Sonics games have you watched in the past 4 years?... thought so...

whilst i agree with everything u said TR - please...stop using 'we' and 'us' when talking of the bobcats ... nothing shits me more than that

hey i've seen one seattle game.

Okafor cannot block every shot. For all the good work wallace does on the perimetre, they will always be burned by everyone else. The nets for example... Wallace can restrict vince to 20 say... whos going to stop Jefferson? Now brevins gone, you've lost your best guard defender as well. Kidd will have a field day. I think they will do well against teams like miami, with most of their play ran through Wade and Shaq. okafor can do a good job on shaq, and wallace can slow down wade. but with teams with 2 dominant perimetre players (celtics, say) I think they will struggle.

The addition of j-rich will only hurt wallace's chances of scoring. he only got 18 a game, when okafor had half the season off, and no one getting over 20 a game. I suspect a similar thing will happen ala when amare came to phoenix, and marions points dropped, but everything else picked up.

and yes i meant the finals. Im still stuck in australian mode when it comes to NBA.

I think the east will look something like this:

detroit
bulls
nets
cavs
raps
celts
NY
washington

ha.. trust me - you wouldnt have wanted to watch anymore than that. Lewis is underrated as a player though, and has single handedly won many games for Seattle. Having said that, he is not worth 120m however.

But then again, now i think about it, if morrison has a good shooting year, okafor's scoring op's could increase a lot. Who knows?

What puts the whole Shard deal into perspective is that Orlando could of sign both Gerald Wallace AND Billups to what they signed Shard for and pocketed some change to keep potentially keep Darko.

Shard = $126 mill
Wallce ($57) + Billups ($60) = $117 mill.

Darko signed with Memphis for around $7 mill which equals $124 mill.

Makes the Shard deal even worse.....

Could of potentially had

PG: Billups
SG: ???? (maybe Redick or Ariza)
SF: Wallace
PF: Darko
C: Dwight

instead of

PG: Nelson
SG: ???? (maybe Redick or Ariza)
SF: Shard
PF: Howard/Battie
C: Battie/Howard

All I can say is: