Many believe that the summer of 2008 will bring us the greatest free agent class of all time. The list of players that could be on the market next July includes the likes of Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Gilbert Arenas, and Shawn Marion (all with early termination options in their contracts). If you extend the list to include both restricted and unrestricted free agents guys like Monta Ellis, Antawn Jamison, Bruce Bowen, and Shaun Livingston will help round out the pool of talent.

Those are some big names. The types of names that could help make a team a title contender in seconds flat. Unfortunately for teams that have cap room this summer, the 2007 free agent class isn?t nearly as exciting. With Chauncey Billups and Vince Carter never expected to leave the Pistons and Nets respectively, the top free agent was largely considered to be Rashard Lewis.

Looking for anyone else in this shallow class? Maybe you can throw $60 million at Gerald Wallace or Darko Milicic.

As the NBA?s moratorium ended, the Magic officially completed a sign-and-trade that put Lewis in white-and-blue. The idea of a sign-and-trade was not a smart move by Orlando GM Otis Smith, because he just grossly overpaid the former Sonics? swingman.

Meanwhile, the Sonics who just drafted both Kevin Durant and Jeff Green, earned themselves a second round draft pick and a $9 million trade exception in exchange for a guy they thought they?d simply lose. The deal gives the Magic the ability to sign Lewis to a max contract, and still give center Dwight Howard a sweet contract extension.

Wait. Did I just say the Magic gave Lewis a max contract?

Sure, Lewis averaged a career-high 22.4 points per game for Seattle last season, but is that worth an average salary of over $20 million for the next six years?

Basketball insiders used to consider Lewis one of the League?s most underrated players, but with a fat bank account Rashard may now become one of the NBA?s most overpaid. Rashard will never be the best player on a team, or the type of shooter people portray him to be. He?s a 6-10, 215 pound forward who relies on his scoring ability more than anything else. He?s never averaged more than seven rebounds per game (his highest was 6.9 back in 2001).

He?s also not much of a passer, despite the conception that he?s a multi-skilled player. I?m not saying the acquisition of Lewis is going to hurt the Magic ? they?ll probably become a legitimate force in the Eastern Conference immediately, but at what cost?

The deal will likely cripple Orlando financially for years to come. Heading into this month the Magic had one of the lowest payrolls in the League, but in two days they could end up spending almost all of their money on the duo of Lewis-Howard. Rumor out of Orlando is that Smith plans to offer Howard a five-year contract extension worth $85 million by the end of this week. It doesn?t take a scientist to realize that would have the Magic putting $135-$150 million in the pockets of two players for the next half decade.

And all of this just days after time finally freed them from the debacle that was the contract of Grant Hill.

To put Lewis?s contract into perspective, let?s take a look at some of the players Rashard now looks down upon in the salary department ? Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce, Elton Brand, and Yao Ming. Are you kidding me?

If Billy Beane were a GM in the NBA he?d likely have a coronary.

Rashard may have just joined Orlando, but he?s the one that seems to have pulled off the biggest Magic trick of all.

Do you think I?m wrong about the Orlando signing of Rashard Lewis?  [email protected]