Hill, McGrady Enter Magic Kingdom
Aug. 4 -- Rather than sign each other’s players with no compensation,Orlando, Detroit and Toronto made nice Thursday.
The Magic worked out sign-and-trade deals with the Pistons andRaptors, resulting in a nice extra chunk of cash for Grant Hill andTracy McGrady.
Both players signed seven-year, maximum salary deals worth $93million with their old teams, then were traded to the Magic. Theyjoin Tim Duncan and Jalen Rose as the biggest financial winners ofthis summer’s free agent class.
Free agents Chucky Atkins and Ben Wallace, who were alreadyprepared to sign with Detroit, ended up signing with the Magic andthen being traded to the Pistons for Hill.
“I kind of felt all along that if I left Detroit, this is whereI wanted to come. When we played against them, they would just playso hard. That really impressed me,” Hill said.
No. 1 Pick for McGrady
McGrady, who was prepared to sign a six-year deal with Orlandocontaining 10 percent annual raises, instead gets a seven-year dealstarting at $9.6 million with annual raises of 12.5 percent.
Orlando sent a future No. 1 pick to Toronto for McGrady.
The Magic also made a trade with Cleveland, sending smallforward Matt Harpring to the Cavaliers for center Andrew DeClercq.
The Magic’s maneuverings were the biggest story on a day whenmost of the other signings were minor.
The San Antonio Spurs signed their remaining two free agents,Avery Johnson and Antonio Daniels, the Vancouver Grizzlies signedfree agent forward Tony Massenburg of the Houston Rockets, the NewJersey Nets re-signed forward Johnny Newman, Boston signed freeagent guard Randy Brown from the Chicago Bulls and Phoenixre-signed forward Corie Blount.
28 Free Agents Signed
A total of 28 free agents have signed contracts during the firstthree days since the NBA’s one-month moratorium on trades and freeagent signings expired.
Among the best players still available are forward MauriceTaylor and guard Derek Anderson of the Los Angeles Clippers, Bostonforward Danny Fortson, Charlotte center Brad Miller, Indiana guardsReggie Miller and Mark Jackson, Lakers forward Glen Rice, Miamiguard Tim Hardaway, New Jersey swingman Kendall Gill, Philadelphiaforward Toni Kukoc, Portland forward Brian Grant and Utah guardHoward Eisley.
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