Lewis v. Wallace
One got 6 years, $126 million, the other got 5 years $57 million. They both play the same position.
One has been in the league 9 seasons and is 27 years old, the other has been in the league 6 seasons and is 25 years old.
One played 60 games last season and averaged 39.2 minutes per game, the other played in 72 games and averaged 36.7 minutes per game.
One averaged a career-high 22.4 points per game last season on 46% shooting, while the other averaged a career-high 18.1 points per game on 50% shooting.
If you did not know by now, the first player is Rashard Lewis and the second is Gerald Wallace.
Let’s take a better look at last season’s statistics:
Lewis - 39.7 mpg 46% shooting 6.6 rpg 2.4 apg 1.1 spg 0.7 bpg 22.4 ppg
Wallace - 36.7 mpg 50% shooting 7.2 rpg 2.6 apg 2.0 spg 1.1 bpg 18.1 ppg
Now, I did not list the fact that Rashard Lewis shoots about 12 percentage points higher than Wallace does from beyond the arc. I also did not list the fact that Lewis is, at best, an ole’ defender while Wallace is one of the better defensive small forwards in the league. Wallace also does a much better job of attacking the rim. Despite the fact that Wallace is about 2 inches shorter, he averages more rebounds per game, which further shows his toughness.
In case you were wondering, take a look at the stats for Lewis after his sixth season:
36.6 mpg 43% shooting 6.5 rpg 2.2 apg 1.2 spg 0.7 bpg 17.8 ppg
Aside from the increase in scoring, Lewis has been the exact same player statistically for about 5 years. He will not dominate a game in any category, yet he is earning twice the amount of money that Wallace will earn. I do not understand that, especially when Wallace is further along the curve than Lewis was after his sixth season. The Magic chose to spend all of their money on Lewis this offseason, instead of spending their money on Wallace and Millicic. Last time I checked two players were better than one, after all, this is a five person game. The other thing that kills me about this deal is the fact that the Magic already have the same type of player, a much lesser version no doubt but still the same player, in Hedo Turkoglu. Hedo is a 6′10″ three point shooter who plays little to no defense. What was Lewis again?
Look, I’m not knocking Rashard Lewis. I like him both on and off the court (my limited sources have said he’s a great guy). He’s young, talented, and a rare commodity (a tall athlete with a sweet shooting stroke). But there is absolutely now way that he deserved that contract. I think the Magic just would not know what to do with themselves if they were not severly overpaying a player to the point that it hamstrung all of their options for the foreseeable future. (Read Grant Hill). It is just totally absurd that Lewis would get that much money, more than any other player this summer. The Magic would have been fine re-signing Millicic, Howard, Nelson, and Ariza and rolling over some of their cap money into next summer when players that are true franchise players become available. Instead, the Magic have made themselves a middle of the pack team in the Eastern Conference that will not be good enough to go the distance. Hope Lewis is enough to win over those Billy Donovan fans who are stuck with season tickets.
In case you were wondering who you would probably spend $126 million on, I’m guessing it is this guy (well, eventually)
Urban Watch: I was in San Antonio a few weeks ago, and I had the opportunity to spend the day with my old teammate/friend, Jerheme Urban. Jerheme is still living the D-III dream. He’s on the Cowboys roster, and according to him (and this), he has a great shot at making the team. Hopefully, he will make the squad and I will get to hear some more great stories about his continuous efforts to have Jerry Jones recognize him on the golf course. (Someday, I will tell you guys the story also).
For now, let’s just relish in the fact that my man scored his first (and only thus far) NFL touchdown on Monday Night Football.
