The Wiz of Awes Player Profiles keep steaming along, and next up is Rashard Lewis.

I’m sure most have forgotten that Rashard Lewis is still on the Wizards roster right now, and there are others wondering why we give him the time of day. Both sentiments are legitimate, but we can’t leave anyone out in our Player Profiles. It’s in the rules, probably.

Anyway, here’s James Straton, Christopher Cook, and Tommy Glasgow with the breakdown…

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James Straton

It’s difficult to even think about Rashard Lewis’ season considering he was paid almost $29,000 per minute played. There’s nothing to say about Rashard’s time on the court aside from the fact that he had some time on the court. He just so happened to exist this season and if he didn’t, nothing would have been different. Once his 2012 season highlight mixtape is on YouTube (surprisingly, it isn’t up yet), it will consist only of shots of him celebrating after beating the Thunder mashed up with his awesome commercial with about Nike Hyperizers that transcends years and should be used in all Rashard mixtapes.

Let’s put his season in perspective a little bit. The following table shows how much worse this season was than any other he has had. It shows his production this year in row 2, and ranks it against his previous yearly numbers (excluding his rookie year, when he played only 7.3 mpg) from best (1) to worst (13) in row 3.

By statistical representation, Rashard Lewis was having the worst year of his career when a seemingly mysterious knee injury forced his last game to be on February 22. With that in mind, we have to consider Lewis’ season for what it was. He was a cap space hog who came off the books one year earlier than Gilbert Arenas. He allowed the Wizards to be invisible in free agency because he took up almost half of the amount teams are required to spend on player salaries. Don’t overlook the importance of keeping the Wiz out of the free agency period that saw DeAndre Jordan and Arron Afflalo each get $43 million.

As a basketball player, Rashard Lewis gets a resounding F. As a piece of a rebuild, Lewis gets a solid B+, only because he has a favorable buyout number ($10M-$13M, depending where you look) and an expiring contract. He would get an A+ as a cog in the rebuild, but that $23M will be awfully difficult to swap for a good player.

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Christopher Cook

I would seriously consider Rashard Lewis as big or an even bigger disappointment than Andray Blatche this season.

If you consider that the Wizards paid Blatche about $6.5 million for his services this year and Lewis $21 million, he could be considered the biggest disappointment in the NBA this year. Lewis’ last game was on February 22 before missing the rest of the season with knee issues. Lewis is getting old, I understand that. He is 32 years old with 14 years of NBA experience, but he gave the Wizards one good game this year, against is former team in Orlando. He dropped 20 points on 8 of 12 shooting, but the Wizards still lost.

For the first time since his rookie season, Lewis shot under 40% from the field and under 30% from three-point range. The same player that is eighth all time in made three-pointers, made just 16 this season. Even though he played fewer games and minutes, Chauncey Billups made 48 three-pointers. Billups is also three years older than Lewis. The only thing I can hope for from Rashard Lewis is that his contract, which expires after next season, may draw some sort of trade interest. If not, the Wizards still have the option of buying him out, even though the number could be higher than originally expected. Rashard has given me no option but to give him the lowest grade possible.

Grade: F

By writing this post, I put fourth more effort in researching Rashard’s season than he did while playing during it. Rashard’s production this season wouldn’t justify a fifth of the money that he received. The only incentive is that the length of his contract isn’t as long as Gilbert Arenas’ was, which is who the Wizards sent to Orlando to get Rashard. I don’t think that Rashard or Blatche are bad locker room guys or bad people, they just don’t give fans the effort that we expect to see. With Rashard, a little drop-off is expected as he nears the end of a long, fairly productive career. With Blatche it’s a different story.

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Tommy Glasgow

The best thing Rashard Lewis ever did for the Washington Wizards was rid the organization of Gilbert Arenas (and his contract) and thus help pave the way for the John Wall Era in D.C. The second best thing Rashard Lewis ever did for the Washington Wizards was leave the organization via amnesty, trade or buyout. His departure allowed Ernie Grunfeld and Ted Leonsis to work with the cap flexibility they had long desired. The Wizards then signed a productive free agent to go along with their prized draft pick and the future looked bright in the nation’s capital. Oh… that hasn’t happened yet?

On the court this season, ‘Shard contributed little to the team’s limited success. Lewis looked like a less-talented basketball impersonator of the two-time NBA All-Star who was a key cog on Orlando’s NBA Finals team just a few years back. One could even go as far as to say all the talent had been sucked out of him, Space Jam style. He couldn’t keep up with John Wall on the break and when he did get the ball for an open shot, Rashard all too frequently came up short. The biggest strength in Lewis’ game is his technically superb three-point shot. Even that let him down this year as his shooting percentage from deep crashed from his career average of 38% to an abysmal 24%. Starting the first 15 games of the season, it didn’t take him long to lose his position to rookie Chris Singleton. Just a few games later, chronically maligned knees took Rashard Lewis out for the remainder of the year.

The new CBA agreement makes it easier for the Wizards to replace Rashard with younger, cheaper and/or more talented players. The amnesty clause is the most obvious choice to the casual NBA fan, but let us not forget that there is another underachieving forward on the roster who may require that move. Then there’s the possibility of a trade. If a team is looking to clear cap space for the much-anticipated 2013 free agency class, they might swallow hard and take on Rashard Lewis. But the most likely outcome is that Ernie pays the man his $13.7 million dollar buyout and both parties move on with their lives.

More than as a complimentary player, this is a veteran who was brought in for his contract. That’s just about all ‘Shard contributed this year. He avoids a failing mark for the season because he signed an autograph for me in February.

Lewis gets a “D”

There wasn’t much to celebrate about the first half of the 2011-2012 season for the Washington Wizards, but with a young team, it’s all about looking forward to what we can do down the road. The combination of the lockout-shortened season and the Wizards’ inexperience has not worked in their favor. The shortened training camps and lack of practice time means a lot of on the job training for the eight players on the roster with less than two years of NBA experience. John Wall seems to be one of the only certainties about this team. Here are some of the things to watch for from the rest of the Wizards in the second half of the NBA season.

• Can Chris Singleton get back to playing like he did at the beginning of the season?-The Wizards didn’t draft Chris Singleton hoping he would score 20 points per game. Over the course of his three seasons at Florida State, Singleton averaged 10.3 points per game while shooting 42% from the field. He was a first round pick because of his defensive prowess. He finished his career at Florida State 5th in school history in blocked shots and 8th in steals. Standing at 6-feet-8, Singleton has the versatility to defend guards and forwards, and came into the NBA with a chip on his shoulder after falling to 18th in the draft. Singleton has almost been non-existent as a scorer, with 3.8 points per game, and his defense has tailed off recently. He played in just 28 games his last year at Florida State due to a broken foot. Is the grind of the shortened NBA season wearing him down, or will he bounce back after the All-Star break and show us some ferocious defense? Notable stats: Singleton is averaging 1.1 steals per game and only 0.4 blocks. He has grabbed five or more rebounds in a game just six times this year.
• Will Jan Vesely be able to stay on the floor and play consistently?-Vesely was deemed by a lot of analysts as one of the most NBA-ready prospects in this past year’s draft. At 6-feet-11, Vesely is another versatile player that has done a lot of the little things that don’t show up in the stat sheet. He has been the Wizards’ most effective player at guarding pick-and-rolls and hustles for every loose ball. All that is true when he is on the court at least. In the 26 games he has played in this season, he averages three fouls per game in just 15.5 minutes. He has managed to clock more than 20 minutes of on-court time just seven times this season. The All-Star break won’t be enough time to cure this, but as the season progresses we will hope to see a little more discipline from Vesely on both sides of the ball. Vesely is a great energy player, but has been erratic at times.He has been called for a lot illegal screens because he isn’t getting his feet set. Cutting down on those kinds of fouls would be a good place to start for Jan. Notable stats: Vesely was effective at getting to the free throw line in his last professional season overseas. He averaged 4.1 attempts per game, but made only 54% of those. This season, Vesely only averages 0.7 free three attempts per game and is shooting just under 37%.
• What will Andray Blatche look like when he comes back from injury?-Blatche did not travel with the team to Milwaukee today as he continues to rehab his calf injury, but he is expected back soon. It’s a return that many Wizards fans are surely dreading. Before Blatche got hurt, he was averaging a career low 38% shooting in 17 games. Of the 13 games he started, the Wizards won just two. Regardless of what his numbers are like this year, Blatche is the closest thing this team has right now to a true power forward. The Wizards have had a hard time finding anyone interested in trading for Blatche, so it looks like they will be stuck with him for the rest of the season. If he can come back in shape and provide any semblance of low-post scoring, the Wizards could be a little more competitive in games where they can’t get out and run the way they like. Trevor Booker has looked great filling in for Blatche in the mean time and has started to show some flashes off an offensive game to go along with his solid defense. Would Blatche be able to embrace a bench role if he can’t come back as a starter? Probably not, but we’ll have to see. Notable stats: Blatche’s field goal percentage, free throw percentage, rebounds and average minutes are all down significantly from last year. He has scored 20 or more points just once in 17 games played and has yet to play over 40 minutes in a game. Last season he scored 20 or more points 25 times in 64 games played and played over 40 minutes ten times.
• Who is going to play small forward for the Wizards for the rest of the year?-If the Wizards can find a way to combine Nick Young and Chris Singleton into one player, this won’t be an issue. Given the small possibility of that happening, the Wizards will need to find out who can play the small forward position going forward. Up to this point, Chris Singleton and Rashard Lewis have essentially split time starting, Singleton has 18 starts and Rashard has 15, but neither of them appear to be the answer at that position. Singleton doesn’t give the Wizards enough scoring and Rashard doesn’t give the Wizards much of anything. The Wizards have shown some small line-ups where they played Nick Young at small forward, especially in their recent game against the Kings, but they got out-rebounded tremendously with that set on the floor. The Wizards will surely look to address that position in the off-season, but Singleton will probably see the most time at small forward the rest of the year. The question remains where the scoring from that position is going to come from. Notable stats: Rashard Lewis’ ineffectiveness cannot be overstated. He has had one 20-point game this season and his decision making on offense is puzzling. Lewis has been known as one of the better three-point shooters for years, but is shooting just under 24% from three-point range. His field goal and three-point percentages this season are the lowest they have been since his rookie season.
• Can the Wizards avoid finishing with the worst winning percentage in franchise history?-The Wizards’ current winning percentage of 21% has them on pace to be the worst team in franchise history. If they continue to lose at this pace, they will finish worse than the 1961-62 Chicago Packers who had a winning percentage of 22.5%. Since the franchise moved to Washington, the worst winning percentage is 23.2% by the 2000-01 and 2008-09 Wizards. There really aren’t any easy games for the Wizards given that they play offense and defense worse than most of the teams in the league. The bright side: The Wizards still get to play the Bobcats two more times. Notable stats: The Wizards have only won two games in a row once this season. The Charlotte Bobcats have yet to win two games in a row this season.

The Wizards start off the second half of their season on the road tonight against the Milwaukee Bucks. Tip-off is at 8pm EST. The Bucks will be without Center Andrew Bogut. Stephen Jackson and Drew Gooden are also questionable to play. The Bucks have dropped six straight at home.

Follow along during the game with me on Twitter @cooooooookiee.

The Wizards returned home to the Verizon Center for the first time since their February 10th loss to the Miami Heat. Tonight’s opponent, the Sacramento Kings, provided an opportunity for the Wizards to go into the All-Star break on a winning note. However, an all too common second half collapse allowed the Kings to come back and win 115 to 107.

Now on to the Bullets Points:

• Two minutes into the game Trevor Booker got into foul trouble with two quick fouls, and less than a minute into the second half he picked up his fourth foul. Due to Jan Vesely’s stomach virus and only one minute of playing time, Booker assumed the role of foul specialist with his four fouls in 17 minutes.
• The Wizards got off to a hot start in the 1st quarter and led 34 to 29 through the first 12 minutes. In the first quarter John Wall led the charge with 12 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, and one steal.
• Rashard Lewis managed to pass up an open lay-up in the first quarter after a rebound. Instead he opted to pass it back out. Rashard Lewis’ incompetence reaches new levels each and every night it seems.
• The Wizards were bad defensively all night, and the first quarter saw Tyreke Evans score on lay-ups on four straight Kings possessions.
• Through two quarters the Wizards were easily the better team. They were making shots, running in transition, and outworking the Kings, and found themselves with an eight point at halftime.
• Along with John Wall, Jordan Crawford was the primary bright spot for the Wizards.  This is becoming a trend now too. In 34 minutes off the bench, he had 32 points on 12 of 19 from the field and 3 of 6 from thee point range. This was the fourth game in the last five that Jordan has had a field goal percentage of at least 50%.
• The Wizards tonight used their three guard line-up a lot tonight, largely due to the ineffectiveness of the small forwards — Chris Singleton and Rashard Lewis. The line-up was effective offensively scoring the basketball, but the downside was seen on the offensive glass where the Wizards gave up 18 offensive rebounds to the Kings. This isn’t surprising given the Kings are 5th in the NBA in rebounding and first in offensive rebounding.
• “Jimmer Mania” was in full force tonight at the Verizon Center. While his fans were impressive in their numbers tonight, Jimmer Fredette wasn’t so much. When on defense, he was abused by Jordan Crawford. At one point he was posted up by Crawford, Fredette fouled him, and Jordan Crawford got the and-1 call. On the offensive end he was mainly a non-factor. He had 8 points on 2 of 5 shooting, 3 of 3 from the free-throw line, and he made one of his two three-point attempts.
• John Wall fell just short of a triple-double with his 21 points, 11 assists, and nine rebounds.
• Where to start with JaVale McGee…? This is a pretty good place to start. JaVale swatted an obvious goal tend into the eighth row. Add in his poor job on the glass — even though had 10 rebounds — allowing the Kings far too many opportunities for tip-ins. He also played poor defense on DeMarcus Cousins, had another goal tend that allowed for a three point play, and had two turnovers — one on an obvious push-off foul. After that foul he proceeded to go up for an emphatic slam, only to miss in typical JaVale McGee fashion.
• Remember last Tuesday’s game in Portland? Nick Young longs for days like that. It was another bad shooting night for “The Cuddler” to the tune of 6/23 from the field. He also had the worst plus-minus for the Wizards tonight with a -15. But hey, he did have one assist tonight.
• Kevin Seraphin played 23 minutes tonight. It was the first time since February 6th vs. Toronto when he got over 20 minutes of playing time. He had 6 points and 6 rebounds, with three fouls for good measure.
• Both the Kings and Wizards had 27 attempts from the free throw line. The difference? The Kings made 25 of them, and the Wizards made only 16.
• Another major difference came in the paint, once again. The Kings scored 64 of their 115 points in the paint. The Wizards only scored 38 of their points in the painted area.
• Misleading stat of the night: Rashard Lewis had a plus-minus of +5.
• Kings’ guards Isaiah Thomas and Marcus Thornton scorched the Wizards tonight. The rookie Isaiah Thomas (the last player selected in last June’s draft) had 18 points and 6 assists and Marcus “The Bayou Bomber” Thornton turned it on in the second half to finish 22 points to help aid he Kings’ second half comeback when Tyreke Evans sat out with foul trouble.

The Wizards (7-26) have a six day break until their next game next Tuesday in Milwaukee. We will get to see John Wall in Friday’s Rising Stars Challenge and Saturday night’s Skills Competition between now and then though.

Enjoy your All-Star break.

Follow me on Twitter @WizofAwesKevin