People like to lump pro sports together; and in many ways this is a great mistake. One of the major discrepancies between the major sports is the way the entirety of the free agent system operates. Baseball and to a lesser extent hockey see a plethora of players jump ship regularly, picking up enormous contracts along the way. However, in the NFL and NBA the situation varies greatly. Truly primo players hit the free agent market once a decade (a la Shaq signing with the Lakers) so in the end teams end up haggling for a whole bunch of mediocre players who they hope will 'fit' into their specific system.
Rashard Lewis is a very nice player on an awful Seattle team. He signed a rather lucrative deal three years ago if I recall correctly,and could have remained in Seattle for a further 2 years for 22 million dollars. However, Seattle encountered an incredible stroke of luck on the night of the draft lottery. We all know of the buzz surrounding the two players projected to go in slots one and two in this year's draft (And if you dispute either of these players being in one of those slots, you are either on some incredible crack or a close relation to Mike Conley).
But I digress... Kevin Durant will go to Seattle at #2, barring any unforeseen consternation in the Portland front office or Mike Conley's sister being named Sonics GM.
Durant is 6'10, Lewis is 6'10. Durant's greatest stregth is his shooting ability, Lewis' defining trait is his shooting ability. They both play the small forward position. They are both skinny, athletic guys with Texas roots.
But Rashard Lewis is eight or nine years older, far higher paid for a shorter period of time, and lacks the upside of the UT prodigy. Therefore, Lewis saw that his role on the squad would be greatly diminished; and in fact he was a likely trade target even if he did keep the last two years of his deal. So Lewis opted out.
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