Sentinel: Magic Ready to Offer Chris Duhon $10 Million over 3 Years
by Evan Dunlap on Jul 3, 2008 1:37 AM EDT
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Free-agent point guard Chris Duhon, formerly of the Chicago Bulls, will receive a three-year, $10 million contract offer from the Orlando Magic.
File photo by Chuck Burton, the Associated Press
Tim Povtak and Brian Schmitz report the Orlando Magic will offer free-agent point guard Chris Duhon a three-year deal worth around $10 million. Duhon could decide by the end of the week if he will accept the offer, and his agent, Kevin Bradbury, says he wants his client to work quickly to make a decision.
As Povtak and Schmitz note, signing Duhon would end any possibility of the Magic signing free-agent swingman Corey Maggette, who's drawn interest from nearly every NBA team.
It's unclear whether Duhon will accept the Magic's offer, having received a two-year, $7 million offer from the New York Knicks just yesterday (link found via Posting and Toasting). Orlando's proposal gives him a lower average salary, but an extra year of job-security. It also gives him the opportunity to play for a contending team.
UPDATE: Thanks to 3QC reader travelerkt for pointing out the Magic have Keyon Dooling's Larry Bird Rights, and can thus exceed the salary cap to sign him. Keep that information in mind when reading the rest of this post, which I've amended with strikethroughs when appropriate.
What I'm more interested in knowing is how Duhon's potential signing affects the status of the Magic's incumbent backup point guard/best perimeter defender/sixth-man, Keyon Dooling, also a free agent. It's doubtful the Magic could retain his services, as Duhon's salary ($3.3 million, which is more than half the mid-level exception) leaves just $2.5 million for Orlando to use to keep Dooling, who earned $3.5 million last season and who now seeks a raise. It could mean Orlando could re-sign shooting guard Maurice Evans, who earned $1.5 million as a starter last season.
I'm disappointed by Orlando's offer to Duhon; although he's an above-average defender, he's also an offensive liability who struggles to his 40% of his shots. Opposing defenses will leave him open to double-team Dwight Howard. Although Dooling was not a great outside shooter either, he at least got to the basket and created offense for himself. I'll liken him to other recent Magic backup point guards in this way: he combines Dooling's defense with Carlos Arroyo's passing ability and Jacque Vaughn's "marksmanship." He's certainly not worth $10 million over three years, nor is he worth losing any hope of signing Maggette or Dooling, who are is a far superior players.
Once again, Magic management baffles me with its decision-making. Even with Jameer Nelson's relatively steady play, and with Dooling's career-best season, the Magic had one of the worst overall backcourts in the league. It just got appreciably worse.
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I think we can still keep Dooling, plus use the rest of the MLE
According to John Denton on AM1080 today, we retain Keyon’s Bird rights, which means we can still keep him, at whatever salary we choose, AND use the rest of the MLE on someone else.
Clarification
I meant to say, we can keep Dooling without dipping into the MLE, thus allowing us to sign him and Duhon, AND still have the remainder of the MLE (minus what we pay Duhon.)
Whoa
If you and J.D. are right, and I suspect you both are, then $3.3 million for Duhon isn’t such a bad deal.
My first thought?
“WHO?”
God…I’ve been following the draft/free agency good times for the past few weeks but have mainly stayed in the background because I don’t know a lot about this side of the business.
This, though, is just utterly disappointing. And I’m reeeeeeally not liking Otis Smith right now. I just cannot for the life of me understand what is going on in the Magic front office.
so long Keyon
I can’t imagine why Otis would want to sign Dooling and Duhon. Why throw 3.3 million dollars a year away for a guy who would be your 3rd string point guard? Bird rights or not, thats a lot to spend on a guy who would be behind Nelson and Dooling for the majority of the season. Besides, if the Magic get desperate for a point guard they already have 2 other guys to turn to. Courtney Lee and Hedo have both proven, at some point in their career, that they can handle the position. Why throw away that much money if you expect to keep Dooling?
Lets face it, Dooling is going to find a team he can start for. It’s what he wanted when he came here and I assume he would still appreciate it. Duhon will probably take this offer and we’ll be stuck with him in the second unit. Meanwhile, the Spurs will take Maggette and win the title. After all, it will be an odd numbered year.
$3.3 million for Duhon as a third-string point guard isn’t such a bad idea if we keep Keyon as the primary backup. I mean, Arroyo got $4 million last year and he was third-string, although he was Billups’ backup when he originally signed that deal…
If we don’t use Keyon’s Bird rights and he chooses to leave, I think he’d fit in well with Golden State, which needs a strong defensive presence in the backcourt to compensate for Monta Ellis, and Dooling has the necessary athleticism to thrive in Don Nelson’s Gonzo offense.
He’d probably start there, too.
Is there actually any evidence Maggette would sign the mid-level exception for us if we offered if? I’m not convinced we have any particular shot at him.
Peace out Dooling
This would actually be great signing. We can now invest so much less in the pg spot with Duhon playing instead of Dooling. Dooling can’t run a team, and so we need a guy who can, and last year that cost what, almost 8 mil between Dooling and Arroyo? Duhon, like you said, combines their skill sets and eliminates the need for them both. I actually don’t like Duhon, but I don’t like Dooling either, so if we can sign Duhon and eliminate the need for another big point guard signing, than I’m all for it.
'Coach, Dwight is a nice guy. Dwight don't hit anybody. But Superman will knock the crap out of you.' - D12
i think it is fairly obvious that keyon is getting better offers and most likely will be moving on. we cannot overstate how much keyon helped us last year. he was a great spark all season long.
duhon is a very good signing though, even if his shooting is not that good. very defensive oriented, pass first in that he gets the ball to the players in positions where they can do their best work. i really like this pick up, especially because it comes cheap.
i think it is fairly obvious that keyon is getting better offers and most likely will be moving on. we cannot overstate how much keyon helped us last year. he was a great spark all season long.
Agreed. If he leaves this offseason, I hope he gets a large ovation from the crowd the first time he enters the game against us next season.
Arroyo's contract
Does anyone know how much impact it will have on the cap space if he doesn’t resign? I’m assuming it has already gone straight to other players contract extensions.
Update
Right now, it’s looking very likely that Duhon takes the Knicks offer. The difference, they’re guaranteeing him a starting job. We’re not … granted we’re the better team, but I don’t think Duhon will pass on the chance to start in the Mecca of basketball.
Update on Maggette, we’ve become front-runners to get him alongside with the Spurs, according to the San Antonio Express-News. It still appears unlikely we’ll get him, but the fact that we’re now front-runners is a good sign.
Freelance Writer for the Chicago Tribune
Class of 2009 - DePaul University
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