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Group Blog talking about the NBA 2009 Eastern Conference Champions. Due to the amazing success of the 2009 playoff run comments are now frequently deleted to kill offensive comments, incoherence, or asininity. Comments can no longer be anonymous and require either a Blogger or OpenID account.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Chris Duhon In Town Today, But Wants Magic Money

Erstwhile Chicago Bulls point guard Chris Duhon is expected to be in town to talk to the Magic today about a free-agent opening.
His astute agent, Kevin Bradbury, is saying all the right things.
It's the way you play the free-agent wheel of fortune.
How Duhon wants to play on an up-and-coming team like Orlando's. How he'd love to play with Dwight Howard. And how, just a few years ago when Duhon was a restricted free agent, that he and the Magic made eyes at each other.
"One of the things Chris wants to do is play for a championship contender," Bradbury told the Sentinel. "This is one of the teams he is serious about. There's been interest both ways for some time."
Bradbury also said Duhon would be excited about playing for the New York Knicks, whom he visited on Tuesday (although why he'd go to that cuckoo's nest is beyond me.)
Here's the thing:
Duhon wants more than what the Knicks and the Magic are offering.
He wants all or a majority of the mid-level exception, worth about $6 million a season. But like the Knicks, the Magic want to split it up between two players almost evenly.
So unless Duhon comes down a little -- hey, it's early in the bargaining process --- he and Orlando can't marry.
Duhon is just playing the game. He knows that even though he has been a back-up most of his career in Chicago, the point-guard free agent class is weak. (Now you know why Magic GM Otis Smith signed Jameer Nelson to a five-year, $40 million extension before the start of last season. Nelson would be the runaway No. 1 point guard as a free agent this summer.)
Duhon would be a nice addition to the Magic because he can play defense and is listed at 6-1. With the return of Keyon Dooling expected, the club could have some more defense at the point. (Also the same goes with Dooling: If he wants to get heavy into the mid-level exception, he might price himself out of the Magic's thinking.) Bschmitz

posted by Big Figure @ 11:02 AM  

15 Comments:

  • At 11:18 AM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Hey i'd love to have chris because he's a true point guard,he's just gotta come down some. Mo evans and keyon,i wont be so mad if they arent back. Also hopefully this will end any debate over whether otis made the right decision to re-sign jameer,people with inside info seem to think it was the right move. One more thing people cant use against otis,he's looking smarter and smarter everyday for realizing that there is a future just as important as the present,and locking up jameer was obviously the right way to go,jameer got 5 years 40 mill (affordable),baron just got 5 years 65 mill(not affordable)on the open market which is what we wouldve had to pay to get a good starting PG in here with jameer on the market. Great move by otis getting him signed,and hopefully we can sign chris too.

     

  • At 6:18 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    I don't get your drift, BIG FIGURE. Who are these invisible people with inside info? And why should we care what they think? The comparison between Jameer and Baron Davis in terms of what they are making is irrelevant because they are not comparable in stature. What is relevant is that if we want to contend as a top 4 elite team, we cannot wory much about salary cap and have to go out there and upgrade the PG (oops... thanks to Otis Smith we can't) position and/or PF position or at least one of the two.

     

  • At 10:26 AM, Blogger WeRDevos said…

    Duhon is worth half an exception. He's a backup, 38% shooter with decent assist to turnover ratio. Doesn't create many steals or rebound. He is 25 so he is young, but at 25 he has pretty much established his worth.

    Overall he is an improvement over Arroyo. Not a huge improvement, but decent.

    I'm still thinking the Magic will wind up signing crazy Jason Williams for the $2 million veterans exception. Williams, even at 33 is better than either Arroyo or Duhon. Plus has been through a championship.

     

  • At 1:01 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Well one of those invisible people is Bschmitz himself. If otis hadnt extended jameer as Bschmitz pointed out he would've been the run-away #1 free agent point guard (basically meaning we would've lost him to a team that would've given him a contract very similar to the one that BDavis got on the open market)it's right there in perentheses on the front page. With the way jameer played in the play-offs we were sure to lose him without an extension. If you dont understand that i cant help you.

     

  • At 1:09 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    WeR,you said duhon is worth half an extention? Well thats what he's getting from us if he takes the offer. Your right about duhon being a back-up,and thats exactly what were signing him for,to back-up jameer. We didnt have a solid back-up last year and it hurt our bench late in the season,we had keyon who's a tweaner which intro/overwaded hates watching him at the point offensively,and we had carlos who didnt get any playing time down the stretch because he's a defensive liability,signing duhon would make us a ton better just from the simple fact that we'd actually have a good back-up at the point for a change when jameer leaves the floor.

     

  • At 1:09 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    If the Magic and point guard Chris Duhon have agreed to a wink-wink free-agent deal, the club has basically delivered combo guard Keyon Dooling one of two messages:

    1. Here's what's left in the pot. Take it or leave it -- but give us a head's up, ASAP.

    2. Thanks for the memories.

    The Magic had said they wanted Dooling to return --- they called him when free agency opened --- and Dooling has indicated he wants to do that. And you couldn't blame him if he wanted a raise after his fine 2007-2008 season.

    But if Duhon is aboard, the situation might change.

    Dooling made around $3.5 million last season, completing a three-year contract for about $11 million. But if Duhon is getting $3 million of the $6 million midlevel exception, Dooling will be looking at about $3 mill a year -- roughly the same salary as before.

    Dooling is no fool and he's one of the most reasonable, thoughtful players I've been around.

    He knows his market value, but this might test him. He's 28 and in his prime, and this might be the last shot to land a decent multiyear contract.

    Duhon's signing means the Magic would have acquired their backup point guard. That would leave Dooling --- who held the job behind Jameer Nelson last season after spending time at the 2 --- to ponder these questions:

    If he's perhaps the third point guard and with the Magic already having three shooting guards (Keith Bogans, Courtney Lee and J.J. Redick). . . .. where does he fit now?

    Is he more of a 2-guard if he re-signs? Don't the Magic then have to trade either Bogans or Redick?

    Or, maybe Dooling discovers that he fits better somewhere else.

    Here's another question: Have the Magic improved defensively if they let Dooling --- their best perimeter defender --- get away? Duhon is a good defender, but isn't it a wash without Dooling?

    The Magic's mere courtship of Duhon officially seals point guard Carlos Arroyo's fate.

    Then again, maybe it also has sealed Dooling's.

     

  • At 2:09 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    This whole conversation is stupid... Jameer being compared to Baron Davis in the free market and probably next to say Otis Smith being the GM of the century. Come up to your senses and read again what you have written.

     

  • At 4:05 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Consider the conversation whatever you like. (Now you know why Magic GM Otis Smith signed Jameer Nelson to a five-year, $40 million extension before the start of last season. Nelson would be the runaway No. 1 point guard as a free agent this summer.) Those are bschmitz's words not mine. I didnt make any comparison's between the players,saying someone could get a similar deal is not a comparison.

     

  • At 1:39 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    I don't know what bschmitz is smoking these days. In general, the Sentinel guys never dared to write anything of some substance against the Magic organization, and as such have never been a reliable source of information. In Brian Hill's fiasco they backed him up until the organization dumped him, and then all of sudden they started singing a new tune pretending that was their position all along. Why would that would be any different now?

    Folks, you may say I have been harsh on Otis Smith, and I admitted that you may be right. But please don't make up stuff to give credit to Smith when it would be too much of a stretch. Plain and simple, if you put a top level PG like Baron Davis next to Jameer in the open market, he would earn just about twice as much. That fact could not change no matter how you cut it, or try to play with words.

     

  • At 1:04 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Ahhhhh i get it now,you dont beleive the messenger. Hey thats cool,you dont beleive what they say,i'm fine with that. But B davis just got 5 years 65 mill ON THE OPEN MARKET-fact,jameer got an extension of 5 years 40 mill from us and wouldve gotten a higher bid had he been a free-agent this summer. Thats not double no matter how slice it. But furthermore who cares if jameer gets close to that or baron gets double,in my opinion the point that i agreed with was not letting jameer get to the free-agent market was smart (no tricks with words there),seems like you missed that and wanted to focus on comparing the players,but from now on i wont report things from the sentinel as if they have inside info(even though they do).

     

  • At 1:57 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Also the reason you cant compare the players is because baron wasnt an un-restricted free-agent,he had to opt-out to become one,and he opted out of some ridiculious money which no one wouldve predicted. GM's cant predict who will opt-out in febuary when jameer was resigned,jameer wouldve been un-restricted FA without having to opt-out,meaning he wouldve been the #1 PG on the list as an unrestricted free-agent,with no baron davis on that list because he hadnt opted out yet. At that time we gave him 40 mill over 5 years(8 mill a year) and was basically all we could afford,if a team blew him away with a six year deal worth 9 mill a year (trying to out bid us)the money couldve gotten way to high for jameer to turn down. Smart move by otis extending him and not having to go through the headache of not only having to find replacements to your bench,but also having to re-sign your starting PG.

     

  • At 9:45 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    The further this goes on the more one could see where the logic lacks:

    1 - I am glad that we have a genius in Smith who could see so far in the future to know a player who has not performed as expected in prior year will: a) struggle all year; b) but do fine in the play-offs because Billups will miracuously get injured. Let's not forget that in some games in TOR series not only Jameer but our entire backcourt got outplayed by TOR's.
    2 - The fact that we paid Jameer 8 mil a year does not set his market value. I thought that we had a consensus on that all along. Becoming the (questionably) top PG in the market does not change who Jameer is.
    3 - I would have been elated if somebody could get Jameer's 8 mil off our books. We could do reasonably well with Keyon and use the money combined with Hedo's to go after a top level PF like Elton Brand. Remember BOS won the championship with Rondo as PG. Wait as second ... how much worse Duhon could be compared to Jameer?

     

  • At 3:38 AM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Matt, even though I have a much higher opinion of Jameer than you do, I have to admit that I admire your creativeness in thinking of moves trying to make the Magic an elite team next season.

    I'm not counting on Otis Smith to be as creative; I'm just hoping he can sign the right players to complement our main core of players.

    I believe he got off to a good start in drafting Courtney Lee.

    Duhon would have been a good backup at the point, but I guess I can't blame him for wanting to go where he's going to start.

     

  • At 12:12 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Sounds good but it just dont work like that. Keyon as our starter? We'd be in bad shape if that was our only option,i can hear overwaded cursing right about now. Boy i dont know what jameer did to get in your doghouse but like mike my opinion of him isnt so low. I'll take jameer over the free-agent class this off-season,except for baron (who was out of our price range anyway)they were all back-up's. But you wont hear me calling otis a genius because he still has alot of work to do this summer to shape this roster.

     

  • At 1:14 PM, Blogger Ken said…

    I believe this all boils down to whether anyone thinks Nelson is our PG to lead this team into the future.
    If Davis had not entered the free agent market, then yes, Nelson would have been one of the better PG's available this summer. However, the free agent point guards this summer is a pretty weak group. In other words; he would be among the best of a 2nd tier group of PG's Does that make him worth 8 million a year for 5 years? In my opinion it does not. I still believe Otis jumped the gun on locking Nelson up at that kind of money. I believe the only reason Otis is so hell bent on Nelson being the starting PG is to justify himself for overpaying Nelson before really proving himself.

     

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