FanHouse Rashard Lewis

ORLANDO -- When the Orlando Magic signed out-of-work Jason Williams this summer to a one-year, minimum wage contract, they made it sound like he was coming merely to be an insurance policy, giving them a past-his-prime, third point guard in case the bottom fell out on the other two.

He's obviously going to be more, a lot more for a real good team.

Williams, 33, is no longer the flashy, wrap-around-passing entertainer he was earlier in his career in Sacramento, but he looks refreshed and ready to play at a high level once again, adding another strong weapon to the defending Eastern Conference champs.

A year off certainly did him well.

ORLANDO -- The Orlando Magic will raise their Eastern Conference title banner Wednesday night at Amway Arena, then begin the most anticipated season in franchise history. And Rashard Lewis will be at home watching on television, riding a stationary bicycle.

Just the thought makes him cringe.

"I knew this day was coming but I'm still upset every time I think about it,'' Lewis said Tuesday after a Magic practice. "I was part of winning that banner, and I won't be there to see it go up. But you do the crime, you pay the fine.''

ORLANDO -- After 10 consecutive seasons of averaging at least 20 points a game, Vince Carter is likely to see his scoring drop significantly this season.

And he'll be happy about it.

It didn't take Carter long during the preseason to realize that playing with a dominant center like Dwight Howard -- a luxury he never has had before -- will change the way he plays the game.

"This is going to be great situation for me. It's one I've never been in before,'' he said before Friday night's lopsided 123-86 exhibition victory over the Atlanta Hawks. "It's a luxury that will be pretty easy to get used to.''

The power forward position is the deepest of all positions. Much like I mentioned how many of the the best power forwards are eligible at center, many small forwards and centers have dual eligibility at power forward. The range of ability consists of some of the league's best rebounders, scorers, three-point specialists, and efficient shooters. Some fantasy owners load up on power forwards and slot them into their center and utility positions. This position runs so deep, so deep that 50 players may not be enough to cover each and every fantasy relevant power forward. The depth leaves great value toward the end of drafts, but there's no reason to sleep on the players atop the draft board.

Again, I followed Fleaflicker's fantasy basketball positional eligibility. The rankings are based on standard, 8-category head-to-head (H2H) scoring: points, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals, three-pointers, field-goal percentage, and free-throw percentage.

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ORLANDO -- Magic All-Star forward Rashard Lewis was anything but contrite Monday when his team gathered the day before training camp begins.

Lewis will open the regular season serving his 10-game suspension for violating the NBA's Anti-Drug Agreement last spring. He tested positive for a banned substance (commonly known as DHEA) that was found in an over-the-counter supplement he was taking.

"I still feel like I did nothing wrong,'' he said. "I've received more support than negative feedback. It's only 10 games in an 82-game season. It's not going to make or break us. When Game 11 comes, I'll be ready to go.''

The NBA suspended J.R. Smith for seven games, and Jason Richardson for two games, after both players recently pleaded guilty to separate driving offenses.

The timing of the suspensions seems rather random -- Smith's reckless driving incident (from 2007) was resolved by the courts this past July, while Richardson served one day in jail for his DUI conviction back in December. But you knew they were coming at some point, because, well, leagues tend to suspend players who get into trouble with the law.

I'm wondering, though, if the length of the suspensions doesn't seem almost as random as the timing of the announcements. When looking more closely at the details of the incidents, the punishments come across as being a bit disingenuous.

Bouncin' Around is NBA FanHouse's weekly insider notebook.

There is a good reason the Orlando Magic don't seem too concerned over losing Rashard Lewis for the first 10 games of the regular season because of his suspension for violating the NBA's Anti-Drug Agreement.

They won't need him.

Of those 10 games, only two will be against teams with a record last season that was better than .500. Yes, it would have been great to have your best shooter in the lineup for that one ESPN game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, but they could beat New Jersey and Oklahoma City with Dwight Howard and four Summer League players.

Will Brinson kicked it in Akron with Nike and LeBron James for the release of LBJ's new shoe and documentary. We're referring it as 'Ballin' With LeBron.'

Okey doke, so everyone knows that the giant fluorescent elephant hanging around Cleveland these days is the as-yet unsigned extension that Danny Ferry and the Cavaliers have offered LeBron James. The key, of course, is the "unsigned" part -- until LeBron inks a contract with Cleveland (or a certain team who's panache is highly overrated just because they play in America's biggest city) he'll continue to be hounded by journalists, bloggers and sad/desperate Cavs fans. Which is what happened when he met with FanHouse (and other members of the media recently). Bron's comments about his future in basketball, dealing with the addition of Shaquille O'Neal, Rashard Lewis' suspension, shaking hands, getting dunked on and rapping with Lil' Wayne after the jump.

In the wake of Rashard Lewis getting suspended for taking a banned supplement, people are again asking whether the NBA has a steroid problem.

To borrow from a famous anti-drug ad - This is your brain functioning properly:

Lewis screwed up.

This is your brain on drugs:

The league has a lot more steroid screw-ups.

Orlando Magic general manager Otis Smith said Thursday that he was not shocked when a league official notified him this week that Rashard Lewis was being suspended for the first 10 games of next season for violating the NBA's Anti-Drug program.

Lewis tested positive for the testosterone-producing steroid commonly referred to as DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone), which was part of a supplement he started taking late in the season. The chemical is banned by most sports leagues, including the NBA, but it is contained in several over-the-counter supplements.

The positive test stemmed from a urine sample provided by Lewis during the playoffs before they reached the NBA Finals.

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