4 yrs/$15M with the Magic
Sorry, I know he's a Dukie, but seriously?
http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/n...ory?id=5357340
4 yrs/$15M with the Magic
Sorry, I know he's a Dukie, but seriously?
http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/n...ory?id=5357340
Thats great for Chris! He will be playing for a winning team! CD is a great backup PG. He may be overexposed as a starter (especially with his back injuries) but I think this is a great signing for Orlando, especially given the dearth of tested NBA PGs available this year. Obviously, Nelson ain't goin anywhere, expect back-up minutes.
What part of this do you have a problem with? As others have said, I don't think he is a full time-starting point guard in the league (on a good team at least) but for ~20 minutes a night I think he is a very good backup PG. His defense and playmaking abilities also seem to be a good fit with the Magic.
As for the salary, the contract averages $3.75 million/year. According to this article, the average NBA salary last year was $3.4 million. As an "average" NBA player, this seems about right for Chris.
Now if you want to discuss why any athletes are making $3 million dollars/yr, that is an entirely different story
It's a great fit for Duhon. He can now play a backup role for the Magic on a very good young team. He plays defense and distributes well.
For the Magic, it's an upgrade over Jason Williams. The price might be a bit high for a backup PG, but it's not a ridiculous deal.
The Magic have enough shooters on the roster that having a defensive minded, pass-first backup PG is not a problem.
I hope he has JJ as a teammate but I wouldn't be suprised if they just switched teams with JJ become a Knick.
I'm thrilled Chris will get to play on a good team and finally get a little national attention. Also glad that he and JJ might be teaming up again.
Blame the market.
Not a lot of point guards out there and it looked like Orlando paid the going rate for a player of Duhon's caliber.
Check out the recent deal Steve Blake got with the Lakers -- four years at $16 million. Pretty similar.
Blake and Duhon have fairly similar numbers. Duhon is two years younger ... last year he averaged 7.4 points and 5.6 assists (1.6 TOs). Blake averaged 7.3 points and 4.8 assists (and 1.6 TOs). Blake shot better -- .395 to .349 on 3-pointers ... but Duhon was over 39 percent the year before.
Anyway, that seems to be the going rate for a quality backup point guard, which is what Blake and Duhon both are. It will be interesting to see the deal that Ray Felton, who is in the same class, gets.
BTW ... Does this mean that Duhon and Redick are now the Magic's backup backcourt?
I hope the Magic hang on to JJ and we get a chance to see him and Duhon both on the floor.
Seems to me that JJ can be a good influence/help to Duhon.
Well this is a bit harsh...
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/bal...urn=nba,253938
Sounds like this guy has it in for Duhon a bit. Maybe he is a frustrated Kncks fan or something.
Actually, I didn't find it that harsh. I think he's a Bulls fan (or at least has followed the Bulls) for what it's worth. His comments seemed to be about a certain coach (Skiles) and a certain team in the American Midwest (Chicago), where he kept getting a bunch of minutes despite many fans' desire to see more of Hinrich and Gordon (or Sefalosha).
He simply says that Duhon is a pretty poor shooter. He actually compliments Duhon's ability to learn the playbook, to be unselfish, to push tempo, and to play great defense. He even notes Duhon has perhaps one of the best backup PG in the league. He just notes that Duhon is a really poor shooter (which is true - his shooting percentages are not very good, and he's really streaky).
Well, yeah, but he also throws in a reference to off-court behavior:
A reference to partying too much, I took it. But, fewer distractions than NYC could be a good thing.And because (speaking from personal experience) it's so damned hard to find a proper pub in Orlando that isn't situated inside of a chain restaurant, Duhon and his big-boy contract will pick up Stan Van Gundy's offense
Well, the off-court behavior has been an issue with Duhon, so it's not really out of place. He definitely had his troubles with the bar scene in Chicago.
I think it was a fairly reasonable summary of what you get with Duhon: steady floor generalship, strong defense, streaky/poor shooting, and a history of off-court issues with the nightlife.
Fair enough.
Ever since he won the 3-pt shooting contest at the McDonald's All-American weekend, I had hopes for his outside shot. Never could hit it consistently, though.
Chris has done some nice things for people in Louisiana after the Katrina disaster. Wish him luck in his new gig in Orlando.
Agreed. The guy just couldn't ever get consistency in games.
And aside from his social life (just a little too much of a partier), there's not much other than positives to say about Duhon's character. He's a team-first guy on the court, and he does wonderful things for charity off the court. It is just too bad he could have just curtailed the drinking a bit.
And there's always time for him to improve that reputation. Hopefully as he's gotten older he's seen the importance of better judgement.