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The one player on the Magic roster believed to be impossible to trade is about to be dealt.
Bismack Biyombo, with two years and $34 million remaining on the albatross of a contract that Rob Hennigan signed him to in the summer of 2016, is set to be traded to the Charlotte as part of a three-team trade that also includes Chicago, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The Magic, however, are taking on a contract that is nearly equally as bad with center Timofey Mozgov coming to Orlando from the Hornets. To sweeten the deal, the Magic will also acquire point guard Jerian Grant from the Bulls.
Sources: Charlotte, Chicago and Orlando finalizing trade that includes Mozgov to Magic, Biyombo to Charlotte and Julyan Stone to Bulls.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 8, 2018
Sources: Three-team trade agreed in principle. https://t.co/Ydrx3Ul3lV
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 8, 2018
Mozgov, a 7-1 center who is 31 years old, has two years remaining on his contract. He is set to earn $16 million next season and $16.7 million in 2019-2020, both figures are just a shade below the $17 million per that Biz is set to make over the next two years (the second year of which is a player option that Biz will no doubt exercise).
Mozgoz averaged 4.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in 11.6 minutes per game with the Nets last season. He was recently traded to Charlotte for Dwight Howard.
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Grant, who is 25 years old, averaged 8.4 points and 4.6 assists with the Bulls last season. The 6-4 point guard, selected 19th overall in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Wizards, shot just 41.6 percent from the field and only 32.6 percent from three. Grant will make $2.6 million next season and will then be eligible for a qualifying offer of roughly $3.7 million.
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What does it all mean for the Magic? If everything stays as is, It seems the primary motivation behind the move was to bring in Grant as a potential back-up point guard to D.J. Augustin. Perhaps this takes Orlando out of the running on Isaiah Thomas.
With Mo Bamba, Nikola Vucevic and Khem Birch occupying the center position, the Magic have absolutely no use for Mozgov, who will likely be stashed at the end of the bench. They will save about $1.5 million in salary by unloading Biz. If they plan to buy him out or use the stretch provision as some fans have speculated on Twitter, why wouldn’t they simple have done the same with Biyombo?
Plenty of questions surrounding this move.