Duhon signs with Orlando

[Rondo2287]

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/67882/20100706/duhon_agrees_to_four_year_$15m_deal_with_orlando/

I think they overpaid for him, but he certainly helps their team.  Much better than Jayson Williams, in my opinion.

[Roy Hobbs]

Chris Duhon and the Magic have agreed to a four-year, $15 million deal, sources have confirmed to Chad Ford.

Duhon spent the past two season with the Knicks after playing for the Bulls over his first four.

He will serve as Jameer Nelson's backup at the point guard position.

Link.

[Brendan]

That's a very nice deal... they can now explore any trade offering at the wing or PG to improve their offense.

Really Lewis and Carter should both be playing SF - so they need to do something with one of them. JJ and Pietrus are nice complimentary wings, Barnes - not a fan. They have an extra center a lot of teams would like. And now they can trade away their PG if they wanted and have a reasonable solution.

Here's their current roster:

Dwight / Gortat
Lewis / Anderson / Bass
Barnes / Pietrus
Carter / JJ
Nelson / Duhon

Really not a bad player in their top 11. They lack an elite guy though. They need a trade that condenses the talent. I think if they could trade some combo of Gortat, Carter, and Nelson for an elite wing they'd be in great shape. Let's say Miami S&T Wade and Beasley for talent after signing Lebron and Bosh (and yes its not realistic).

Dwight / JO
Beasley / Anderson / Bass
Lewis / Pietrus
Wade / Barnes
Duhon / JJ

(and for completeness)
The Heat wouldn't be deep or fit together great - but could move Nelson and Carter independently to make the roster fit better.

Gortat
Bosh
Lebron
Carter
Nelson

[hpantazo]

That's a very nice deal... they can now explore any trade offering at the wing or PG to improve their offense.

Really Lewis and Carter should both be playing SF - so they need to do something with one of them. JJ and Pietrus are nice complimentary wings, Barnes - not a fan. They have an extra center a lot of teams would like. And now they can trade away their PG if they wanted and have a reasonable solution.

Here's their current roster:

Dwight / Gortat
Lewis / Anderson / Bass
Barnes / Pietrus
Carter / JJ
Nelson / Duhon

Really not a bad player in their top 11. They lack an elite guy though. They need a trade that condenses the talent. I think if they could trade some combo of Gortat, Carter, and Nelson for an elite wing they'd be in great shape. Let's say Miami S&T Wade and Beasley for talent after signing Lebron and Bosh (and yes its not realistic).

Dwight / JO
Beasley / Anderson / Bass
Lewis / Pietrus
Wade / Barnes
Duhon / JJ

(and for completeness)
The Heat wouldn't be deep or fit together great - but could move Nelson and Carter independently to make the roster fit better.

Gortat
Bosh
Lebron
Carter
Nelson

I was with you until you said they would trade for Wade in their own division.

[FrDrake]

Hopefully this means Orlando won't pony up for a new contract for JJ Reddick.  Considering the moola they are already paying Nelson, Vince, and Duhon, the 5-6 mil per year it will take to sign JJ may be too much.
 
I think the Cs would be much stronger starting JJ and bringing Ray Allen off the bench in a Manu 6th man role.

Hopefully DA strikes quick! 

[oldmanspeaks]

It seems like Orlando has unlimited amount of money or just no regard to the financial consequences. With a decent Reddick contract they will be over 83M with a big luxury tax implication. In another forum, I wondered about their finances and marketbase. Everytime I think they won't spend more money they spend even more.

[FrDrake]

It seems like Orlando has unlimited amount of money or just no regard to the financial consequences. With a decent Reddick contract they will be over 83M with a big luxury tax implication. In another forum, I wondered about their finances and marketbase. Everytime I think they won't spend more money they spend even more.

There's some truth to this.  They surprised everyone when they matched Gortat's contract and signed Bass last summer.  If they trade for Arenas then we'll know they truly are printing money in Orlando.

[the_Bird]

I thought I heard that Orlando was something like $30M in the hole a couple years ago. 

That's a lot of coin for a backup PG.  Figure that it HAS to make it less likely that they re-sign JJ Reddick (or match any decent-sized offer sheet).  Given that Duhon has pretty decent size for a PG, might they run Jameer and Duhon together a little bit?  If so, that too would diminish the need to re-up Reddick.

VC could be the odd man out, too.  Not sure how much trade value he has these days.  Actually, since VC only has one year left on his contract ('11 - '12 is a team option), he might not be a bad option for one of the teams that has cap space this season but that strikes out on the LeBron/Wade sweepstakes.  Trade for VC, probably not give up much in compensation, and he comes off the books in twelve months anyway. 

[jdpapa3]

I've seen a lot of Chris Duhon...and he is not a good player. I'd struggle to even call him decent. He seems to have 1 good game out of 7 or 8.

[pearljammer10]

Im not very worried...Duhon isnt that great.. I actually would prefer J Williams if I was on the magic.

[the_Bird]

Im not very worried...Duhon isnt that great.. I actually would prefer J Williams if I was on the magic.

Hell, I'm not worried at all.  Duhon doesn't make them any better, and it likely curtails their ability to re-sign Reddick (or makes them more likely to finally trade Gortat).  Both of those guys are much more important than Duhon will be.

[Brendan]

I said it wasn't realistic - just pointing out that's the structure of a deal the ORL needs to do. Their alpha dogs are all 1b options - Nelson's not quite good enough, Carter cannot put it together, Lewis cannot create his own shot, Howard is susceptible to fouls against him or by him.

I was with you until you said they would trade for Wade in their own division.

[Brendan]

If they keep Barnes and Pietrus, I could see them waiving bye to JJ.

It will be hard for the C's to make an offer - he'll tie up their MLE for a week, while we wait to see if ORL matches, which if they do, could be a disaster. I don't think we go after JJ, unles Ray is leaving.

[the_Bird]

If they keep Barnes and Pietrus, I could see them waiving bye to JJ.

It will be hard for the C's to make an offer - he'll tie up their MLE for a week, while we wait to see if ORL matches, which if they do, could be a disaster. I don't think we go after JJ, unles Ray is leaving.

Tying up the MLE for a week wouldn't be that big a deal.  Wouldn't restrict our ability to get a deal for Ray completed.  Would prevent us from signing Brad Miller, but presumably signing Reddick to an offer sheet would mean that Reddick was identified as the priority.

[Who]

Duhon has been poor for the last 18 months. Not sure how well he is going to finish out his career, might have already seen his best days.

I think this is a risky signing by Orlando. Could be good though if Duhon gets back to his best basketball.