Sports Illustrated, July 2002 Issue

[Xist2Inspire]

[JNR]

[Xist2Inspire]

4 years ago, Rashard Lewis was drafted with the 9th pick in the 1998 NBA Draft. 3 years ago, he was traded to the Washington Wizards along with the 9th pick in 1999 for the 3rd pick. 2 years later, the 22-year-old* inked a 5-year contract worth almost 70 million, seemingly solidifying his - and the Wizards' - future together. Today we sit down, not with Lewis himself, but with the man who both traded for and recently re-signed him, Wizards GM Xist2Inspire, to discuss his team.
*As of this writing

SI: After a few years of extremely up-and-down seasons, it looks like the Wizards have finally found some stability, behind the talent of up-and-coming players such as Lamar Odom and Rashard Lewis.

Xist: Yes, it took awhile to get to this point, but we've finally returned to being a respectable franchise again. Our young players have been a huge part of that, which is why we didn't hesitate to give Rashard his deal.

SI: I'm glad you mentioned that, could you tell us why you felt Lewis was worth his extension? Critics would argue that he's the least deserving of the 4 players that were offered big extensions this offseason.

Xist: Age played a huge factor in it. At 22, Rashard has already become a fairly reliable 15 ppg scorer, and he has the potential to get even better in that area. He's still developing on the defensive end, but at 6'10", he has excellent size for his position. That covers for a lot of his mistakes on D. To be honest, a lot of us feel as if we haven't allowed him to fully showcase his versatility as a player, we've almost exclusively used him at the 3, when he also has potential at the 4. Overall, it's a bit of a risk - all large contracts are - but we felt that it was a risk well worth taking.

SI: Aside from a few big re-signings, you've had a fairly quiet offseason. Take us through what happened and your thought processes behind it.

Xist: Well at the end of last season, we looked at our payroll and determined that there was no way we could keep last season's team together without paying a very high tax bill, one that we simply weren't prepared for. So with that in mind, we shifted our focus onto retaining our young players, reducing our tax bill, and picking up low-cost young talent to fill out our roster. We didn't do quite so well on that last one, but we are glad to have Jared Jeffries and Nikoloz Tskitishvili on our team anyway. Unfortunately, as part of our second goal, we had to say goodbye to Jerry Stackhouse, our team's leading scorer. We really appreciated what he did for us last season, but we just couldn't hold on to him. We also parted ways with Keon Clark in Free Agency, given that we have a glut of young talent in our frontcourt already, especially once we matched the offer for Michael Olowokandi. We brought back most of our bench from last season, but with so little cap space available, that was about all we could do.

SI: So with the shifts in focus, has your outlook for this season also shifted?

Xist: We definitely still want to hold on to the division crown. However, this season is more about figuring out exactly what we have, and what we need to focus on moving forward. We're still a young team, and there are a lot of questions that need to be answered. We hope that we have guys who are up to the challenge of answering them.

(Now it's your turn to take control of this article and send me some questions!)

[42PhD]

Dr. Rocker from the Cleveland Rocker: You mentioned focusing on moving forward. You don't have to tell me how you make your skyline chili, but whether you let Terry Mills go or not, you'll be over the cap with Odom's cap hold and unable to sign any meaningful free agents. So, the only way to add talent is to use your first round pick, and that is assuming you bring the aging Mills back, which will put you deeper into the tax.

We all know Mills is on the block, but he hasn't moved.

Is this a make or break season for the Wizards? If so, how do you deal with the Hawks?

[Xist2Inspire]

Xist: Our sudden cap issues were the primary reason why we decided to start looking for cheap talent, whether in the 2nd Round, Free Agency, or by trade. With Odom's free agency on the horizon, we'll have to learn how to be smart with our signings.

This is far from a "make or break" season for us. Either outcome pleases us. If we "make," then we know that this core is worth keeping and that all we need to worry about is filling in the gaps. If we "break," our scouts tell us that this draft is a good one to end up in. No matter what happens this season, we feel as if we're in a good position to profit from it. As for the Hawks, nobody's "dealt with" them yet, so we certainly aren't judging our team by how well we match up against the two-time champions.

[JNR]

Generic Wolves Reporter: I noticed that your pace was the slowest in the league during the preseason. Was that an experiment, or were you saving the energy of this young team for when you inevitably speed up the pace in the regular season? Also, do you think the pace accounted for Olowokandi's disappointing performance?

[Xist2Inspire]

Xist: Our guys really want to run, but since we had so much success with a slower style last season, the coaching staff convinced them to slow it down...for now. I don't know how long the staff will be able to go before they give in. As for Michael, we knew what we were going to get when we re-signed him. You might remember a former player of ours, Duane Causwell. Like him, most of Michael's contributions won't show up big on the stat sheet. He may never be a dominant scorer, but his rebounding and defensive presence are vital assets, especially as big men seem to be growing scarcer.

[NOLa.]

The Kings GM was rumored to be very salty after conversations to bring Kandi-man to Sacramento fell apart. What ultimately factored in the most in your decision to being back the big man? Is a championship on the minds for Wizards ownership and fans?

Sent via Morse code

[Bowtothebill23]

Jack Markson from The Golden Take. Popular opinion around the league is that the Atlantic is the worst division in basketball. You won the division last year and you're the favorites to win it again this season. Does the lesser talent of the rest of the division take away anything from winning the division crown or is winning a division title impressive and something to be proud of regardless of who is in the division?

[Xist2Inspire]

Xist: We're real sorry to hear that, as we consider ourselves to be on good terms with Kings management. Yes, we did discuss a deal, but ultimately our rosters and goals were too inflexible to reach a fair compromise. One way or another, someone would be taking the L in a deal. We decided to bring Michael back mostly to continue the work we started a few seasons ago. We were initially caught off guard by his rapid rise, but make no mistake, he was a part of our long-term plans ever since the day he arrived via trade. There was no real point in coming so far, then pulling back right when he exceeded our expectations. You might remember that we pulled the plug early on a playoff team once before. We've regretted that decision ever since, and resolved not to do it again. Michael's new contract is a product of that resolve.

Honestly, when it comes to our division banner, we won it. With a winning record. Doesn't matter how "weak" the division was, those are the facts. Now that doesn't give us free license to act cocky and pretend like we're one of the best franchises in the league, because even though we had to work for our title, it was nothing compared to what others have had to do. We still took pride in the work we put in, and fully appreciated when people took notice of it. So yes, one should take pride in their accomplishments, no matter how small they are. As long as you've worked fairly for it, it's all good. And if the division is ripe for the taking this season, we'll be glad to do just that.

It's funny, because when you mention "championships," you have to remember that we nearly tasted ultimate success right off the bat. So though those memories remain strong, we have to remind ourselves that lightning very rarely strikes twice, we can't just expect to waltz into the playoffs with any old team and make a run. It takes hard work and clever planning to climb all the way back to the mountaintop. So while a championship is the ultimate goal, we're not gonna get ahead of ourselves. We're gonna get there...in time. And if we're smart enough, we'll stay there.

[NOLa.]

We on good terms bro <3


Sent via Morse code

[NickMalone77]

Many players have had direct links from playing with Charlotte and then with Washington or vice versa. Keeping that line of communication open, what was the decision to part ways with Keon and Darius and have them in Charlotte?

[Xist2Inspire]

Xist: Charlotte's front office is another that we feel we're on good terms with, and we usually talk at least once per season. For Darius, he was originally drafted by Charlotte, and no longer fit our offensive scheme, so we were happy to strike a quick deal when Charlotte came calling. As for when Keon signed with Charlotte, we decided to let him go, due to us having a wealth of frontcourt options. Again, we were able to reach a quick, easy deal, and Potapenko's rebounding prowess makes a nice compliment to Michael off the bench. Charlotte's front office has always been very easy to talk and reach deals with, which is why we've shared such close ties over the past decade or so.

[78#]

You signed Rashard Lewis to a 5 year supermax. What do you see in his talent to warrant such a deal usually reserved for a franchise level talent?

You were speaking of younger cheaper talent. Do you have thoughts on Joe Smith who has been a productive player for the Rockets the last two seasons despite making $1.5 million? He's had a EWA of 10.9 and 8.1 the last two seasons.

[Xist2Inspire]

Xist: Our decision to max Rashard was an easy one. It's not often that you find a versatile 6'10" player with his skillset. In fact, a similar, older Keith Van Horn received a 4-year max last season. We felt that Rashard's youth made him well worth an extra max year. To us, he is a franchise player.

As you know, Joe was a vital part of our '97 Finals run, and was set to become the future face of our franchise. Unfortunately, the temptations of being a hometown hero got to Joe, and his lackadaisical attitude spread throughout our team, not only affecting him, but fellow youngsters Ron Mercer & Tony Battie. Because of that, we were forced to part ways with all three. We're very glad to see that he's gotten back on his feet in Houston, and if the opportunity presented itself, would gladly welcome him back. However, our team focus is drastically different these days, and thus he might find it hard to fit in.

[WigNosy]

How soon do you expect Nikoloz Tskitishvili to blossom into a superstar?

[Xist2Inspire]

Xist: Nikoloz is someone we plan to keep around for a season or two. We aren't expecting to get any major contributions from him in that timeframe, but we hope that he'll show us enough in practice to warrant a full-time spot on this team, similar to Wang's position last season. We are already quite impressed with his quickness for a man his size.

[IamQuailman]

Awarded 5 pts!