Rashard Lewis: Is he worth a "Max" deal?

Rashard Lewis signed a "Max" deal with the Orlando Magic. I'm guessing that the Magic think that this signing puts them near the top of the weak Eastern Conference. It may do that. His skill-set would seem to be perfect for the Magic. He and Dwight Howard should be a very effective inside/outside combo that other teams will have a hard time defending. On the other hand, does it make sense to pay a guy who doesn't do much else but shoot the ball make sense? Knick fans were greatly disappointed in Allan Houston, who was a similar player at times. He had a better handle and when he put his mind to it, could break down defenders with the dribble and get to the rack and either finish or get to the line. However, he didn't play "D" and would disappear at times. He was unselfish to a fault throughout his career and this same trait can be found in Lewis' game. He has a beautiful stroke and again, seems to be a great fit for Howard, but will he disappear too much for this big a deal? Are 5 years at $85M too much for a one dimensional player?

With most teams the answer is yes. This may be one of the handful of teams that it may not be such a bad deal. Lewis will turn 28 this coming August, meaning he will be 33 at the end of this deal and while he missed 20 games last year due to injury, he does not have a history of injury and has shown that he takes care of himself during the off-season. You won't see him appear on Shaq's overweight camp show (one of the funniest new shows on TV. Shaq? Helping people lose weight?) However, this deal is not only about Lewis' pricetag. For the Magic to be able to fit this contract under their salary cap, they also had to renounce their rights to Darko Milicic. This leaves the Magic with only Howard and Tony Battie in their frontcourt. Does this mean that the Pat Garrity era is about to commence in Orlando? Say it ain't so.

What do you guys think?