Originally Posted by hobojoe

If I see one more "OMG 2 players for $40 million, now you only have $15 million for 10+ players!!!" posts I'm gonna scream. It's just a blatant misunderstanding of the salary cap. The Magic can still sign any of their players whom they own the Bird rights of to extensions and go over the cap as well as use the midlevel exception to sign free agents. All it means is that the Magic won't be under the cap for the next 5 years and able to sign free agents to huge deals (like 20+ other teams). Lewis is obviously overpaid, but Otis lucked out because everyone knew Howard was getting the max extension, signing Lewis to even a reasonable deal ($12 million a year) puts the Magic over the cap for the next 5 years in all likelihood. Think about it, Howard and Lewis making about $30 million a year, if ANY of Orlando's young talent warrants a decent sized extension in the next couple of years (Ariza, Redick, Nelson) they're over the cap right there anyway. The only difference is the cash out of Rich DeVos' pocket and possibly having to pay luxury tax, that's all. Paying Lewis $120 million as opposed to $70 million or $75 million makes no difference as far as flexibility for the team to sign players.

Originally Posted by HB

They'll also sweep whatever team they meet in the ECF. They are that good