NBA Insider with Ken Berger

It appears the Knicks are going to have to look elsewhere for help at small forward with reports Tuesday morning that Rashard Lewis has decided to sign a five-year max deal with the Orlando Magic.

Details are sketchy, but ESPN.com is reporting that Lewis was wowed by the Magic’s aggressive recruiting visit and decided to opt for a straight-up contract rather than going to another team via a sign-and-trade. Orlando was one of the few teams with enough cap space to give Lewis a max deal. The total value won’t be known until the 2007-08 salary cap structure is announced, and it won’t be official until the signing moratorium is lifted on July 11.

The Sonics could have given Lewis a more lucrative six-year deal, then dealt him to a team such as the Knicks. We’ll find out later today whether the Knicks lacked the pieces to get such a deal done or Lewis simply wanted to play alongside Dwight Howard in Orlando.

Isiah Thomas will now have to go to Plan B if he wants to add a small forward who can score, defend, and rebound. Ron Artest could be had for a modest price in a trade with Sacramento. The Kings are tired of his distractions, and Artest would be cheap because he’d essentially be a one-year rental with an opt-out in 2009. Toronto’s Morris Peterson also is an unrestricted free agent.

On another note, I’m going to steal a tactic from my colleague, Alan Hahn, by going musical in my blog. I saw Rush for about the 15th time last night at Jones Beach, and for those who care, it was the best show I’ve seen them do. Rush is an eclectic musical taste, and my taste for their music is probably more eclectic than most. I like a lot of their obscure songs that never got played on the radio, and they rolled out a playlist of my favorites last night, as though I had submitted requests.

Then again, maybe Zach Randolph is a Rush fan, too. They played “Mission,” something Zach is going to be on to repair his public image, and “Circumstances,” which were all that kept him from being a model citizen in Portland. They opened with “Limelight,” which Zach certainly will find in New York, and sprinkled in a rare live performance of “Witch Hunt.” Insert your own joke.