I usually hate posting things this late, but this one is too big to ignore. Don't forget to read the recap of the Magic's 109-98 victory over Golden State earlier this evening. Onto it...
Brian Schmitz, who insists his sources are "impeccable", reports the Orlando Magic are interested in acquiring Grant Hill from the Phoenix Suns:
A little more than a year after parting ways, the Magic and Grant Hill would be interested in getting back together.
[....]
Hill, who has one home in Orlando and is renovating another, would embrace a reunion despite feeling the Magic didn't try to keep him after his star-crossed seven-year career ended in 2007. He signed a two-year contract with the Phoenix Suns.
Schmitz says likely bait for Hill would be J.J. Redick. So the Magic would trade a young, fan-favorite player who is historically a fantastic three-point shooter--a must-have skill for shooting guards in Stan Van Gundy's offense--and receive an old, fan-reviled player who doesn't shoot three-pointers well? What? How does this make any sense? Follow the jump for the counterpoint in this mini-argument.
The upshot, says Schmitz, is that Hill's defense and savvy--valuable assets come playoff time--would bolster a reserve unit largely bereft of veterans.
I gather the reaction in Orlando to this purely hypothetical trade--although it sounds like the Magic do want Hill--would be strongly negative, given Hill's injury-riddled seven years with the team. I also don't know that Hill is a huge upgrade over Redick. Yes, he defends, and yes, he's smart, but he's also 36-years-old and joins a crowded shooting-guard rotation that will include Mickael Pietrus, Keith Bogans, and Courtney Lee. Maybe he could spell Hedo Turkoglu at small forward, but it seems to me the Magic have more pressing needs at power forward and at point guard. Come to think of it, shouldn't shooting guard be last on Magic GM Otis Smith's list of positions to upgrade? Puzzling.
No matter what you think about the rumor, it's at least... interesting... that the Magic feel ready to make a deal, especially one for a veteran near retirement. It's the sort of roster tweak that teams that believe they're on the cusp of title-contention make to shore-up their rosters. Hmm.