Empty the Bench

It’s widely understood that Peter Vecsey has been afforded incredible leeway to fabricate rumors and stir the controversy pot. Anything he “reports” should always be taken with a grain of salt, so until this potentially devastating development in Rashard Lewis’ impending free agency gains more traction elsewhere, remember: this is a Vescey Report. Proceed with caution.

In today’s New York Post, Vecsey claims that Lewis’ agent, Tony Dutt, may have screwed up paperwork that would allow Lewis to opt out of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent this summer. File this one under the “Oops, My Bad” Department:

According to a lawyer privy to the language in Lewis’ contract, in order to void his obligation to the Sonics in 2007-08 and 2008-09, he had to do it in writing and deliver it personally or by registered mail either on the date of his team’s last game (regular season or playoffs) or on June 1, 2007 . . . whichever was later. Fastened to that stipulation is a five-day grace period; hence, June 5 was the cut-off date.

Late May reports (AP/ESPN) out of Houston, where Lewis lives in the offseason, quoted Dutt saying he’d officially alerted the Sonics in writing on Friday, May 25 (or maybe Saturday, May 26) his client had opted out.

Both days, bordering Memorial Day weekend, were cited by Dutt. He was unsure. But it sure wasn’t April 18, when the Sonics’ season ended in a rout by Dallas. And it sure wasn’t within the predetermined June 1 to June 5 time limit. If this argument is accurate, Lewis has forfeited colossal leverage.

Yikes. Now, let’s be honest: one way or the other, Lewis is guaranteed to make just over $10 million for each of the next two seasons if he’s “forced” to stay in Seattle. If this is simply a Vecsey non-issue, he’ll earn somewhere in the neighborhood of $12 – $14 million for the next four or five years. The moral of the story is that Rashard Lewis is going to be seriously paid.

And while he may be ready to move on, sticking around with the Sonics may not be the worst thing in the world, as he, Ray Allen, Chris Wilcox, and potentially Kevin Durant would make good things happen on the court. They wouldn’t be that far off from competing with the West’s big boys, at least on paper.

Still, if Dutt indeed messed this one up, he’s going to have one less client to worry about, and the words “ah, nuts!” will be heard echoing around a five-mile radius of his office.

**UPDATE** Via TrueHoop: “ESPN.com has looked into this and it appears that Lewis and his agent, Tony Dutt, did not “mishandle” the paperwork for his ETO (Early Termination Option) and he is indeed a free agent starting July 1.”