Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Whatever


I stumbled upon this little piece of amazingness while shuffling through an otherwise pedestrian Shira Springer column in the Globe today and felt the need to share:

"If Phoenix doesn't work out as a trading partner, there is speculation around the league about a possible deal with Seattle that would bring forward Rashard Lewis to Boston. Lewis reportedly is good friends with Gerald Green and would consent to the deal if Green is not a part of the package."

I'm sorry, but I find it absolutely fucking hilarious that a marquee free agent wants to come to Boston in order to play with Gerald Green. I mean, has Rashard ever watched a Celtics game? Don't get me wrong, I think Gerald is probably a really great guy, and both he and Rashard are from Houston (though Lewis is six years older), but aside from the occasionally insane flashes of brilliance, Gerald Green kind of sucks at basketball. This is kind of like if Barry Zito had signed with the Sox last year because he wanted to play with Wily Mo Pena.

Truthfully, I'm not a huge Rashard Lewis fan and I don't think he's the answer for the C's. First of all, he's going to command an outrageous salary wherever he goes, mostly because the free agent market is weak this year and someone is always down to overpay guys who put up flashy numbers, even though Rashard's numbers aren't even really that flashy. Last year he averaged 22.4 ppg, but 6.6 rpg is pretty awful for a guy who's 6-10 and who the C's would definitely want to see spending some time around the basket. Also, he's never averaged even one block per game, which is also alarming considering his height and the fact that he frequently lines up as a 3 against guys who are at least 2-3 inches shorter. I'm not trying to dispute the fact that Rashard Lewis is a nice player, but he's definitely not a franchise guy even though he'll almost certainly end up getting paid like one. Normally I'd say that I don't see Danny biting here, which is the wise decision, except for the fact that as Springer points out, the Sonics have perpetually-injured Robert Swift, for whom Ainge has been sporting an inexplicable hard-on since 2004. Still, I don't think this will happen, if for no other reason than that the Sonics have Durant coming (god damn them) and can probably get more for Lewis than what the C's can afford to offer.

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