In dire need of a backup point guard, the Orlando Magic today agreed to terms with Chris Duhon (number 62 on the Big Board) to a 4 year, $16 million contract. Duhon spent last season buried on the bench in New York after failing to grasp the Mike D'antoni system. If you take the money out of this deal, Orlando made a smart move. They really needed a backup point guard badly and Duhon is just that, a solid backup. When asked to be a long term starter, there were problems, but behind Jameer Nelson, he should be pretty good. The money, though, is bad. Duhon had an abysmal turn in New York which should have forced his value to plummet. I think Orlando bid against themselves here and ended up signing Duhon for perhaps twice what he would have gotten elsewhere. Further more, this signing marks a trend in Orlando; that being, signing end of the rotation guys for big money. Last year the Magic signed Brandon Bass to a deal similar to Duhon's and followed that up by matching the Maverick's offer of 5 years, $34 million dollar offer to bakcup center Marcin Gortat. Gortat played 13 minutes per game last year while Bass played in only 50 games total with dozens of DNP-CD (did not play - coaches decision) to his credit. So now the Magic will be paying $66 million to three back of the rotation guys who can't get off the bench. Awesome.
Grade: C+
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