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Magic set to lure Duncan, Hill
Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla. -- For the rebuilding Orlando Magic, the NBA
draft was not so much about picking players as it was creating
enough salary cap room to sign high-profile free agents to
transform the team into a championship contender.
"We're set and loaded. Now we have to go out and do something
about it," coach Doc Rivers said Wednesday night after the team
selected Florida's Mike Miller with the fifth pick and made two
trades that freed about $5 million more to pursue big names like
Tim Duncan and Grant Hill.
|  | | Mike Miller of Florida shakes hands with NBA commissioner David Stern after being drafted by the Magic on Wednesday. |
The Magic overachieved with a roster full of role players last
season, narrowly missing out on a playoff berth with a 41-41 record
that brought River coach of the year honors.
Now, they've added an exciting young player in Miller and have
$18 million in salary cap room -- making Orlando one of two teams
able to sign two free agents to maximum allowable contracts that
would pay $9 million in the first year.
General manager John Gabriel's wish list begins with Duncan and
Hill, who reportedly are set to visit Orlando shortly after the
free agency period begins Saturday. Tracy McGrady and Eddie Jones
are among the other players who will attract interest if he can't
land his top choices.
Freeing the money to be in a position to pursue two stars,
instead of one, has been a year-long process.
During an eight-month period from June to February, the Magic
made 37 transactions involving 38 players and created about a
little more than $13 million in cap room. Four starters, including
Penny Hardaway, were dealt from a team that made the playoffs two
years ago, but it took Wednesday night to keep the master plan
together.
Orlando took an unprecedented three lottery picks into the
draft, but had no desire to use all of them for themselves.
After unsuccessfully trying to move up to pick Kenyon Martin or
Darius Miles, the Magic selected Miller, who left Florida after
leading the Gators to a runner-up finish in the NCAA Tournament as
a sophomore.
Gabriel then selected Missouri guard Keyon Dooling with the 10th
pick and sent him, Derek Strong and Corey Maggette to the Clippers
for a future first-round pick. The rights to the 13th pick, Fresno
State guard Courtney Alexander, were sent to the Dallas, also for a
future No. 1.
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Thu, June 29
Orlando is taking a gamble, but I believe in the long run it will pay off with free agents wanting to go down to
the Magic Kingdom. The moves made by the Magic remind me of the Lakers? decisions to free up space to sign
Shaquille O?Neal. Orlando also has popular coach Doc Rivers as a selling point.
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By dealing Strong and Maggette, as well as getting rid of two
draft picks who would have received guaranteed contracts, the Magic
cleared about $5 million in cap room. In addition, the team will
have up to nine first-round picks over the next four years.
"This isn't a one-step process. This is a two-stepper,"
Gabriel said. "It starts tonight. We'll finish with a player we
feel will be a meaningful part of the mix and we look forward to
the weekend."
Rivers said what he liked most about what the Magic had done was
that the team will not have to renounce the rights to any of the
players who played in a key role in the team's surprising success
last year.
He acknowledged, though, that the pressure will be on to sign
free agents who can take the team to the next level.
"But the heat was on last year. The heat was on the day we
traded Penny Hardaway, the day we traded Horace Grant," Rivers
said. "I don't know if I'm more confident than I was yesterday,
but I am more confident that we can do it without bankrupting our
team."
Gabriel launched the ambitious rebuilding plan on draft night a
year ago, sending Grant to Seattle for Maggette, a player that
Miller would have competed with for playing time if both had
remained on the roster.
Miller averaged 14.1 points and 6.6 rebounds last season. His
driving jump shot in the lane as time expired gave Florida a
one-point victory over Butler in the opening round of the NCAA
Tournament and the most successful season in school history didn't
end until a loss to Michigan State in the national championship
game.
When the 6-foot-8 forward announced his decision to enter the
draft after just two years of college, he conceded he probably
isn't ready for the pros. But he reasoned that he also wasn't ready
for college ball when he began at Florida.
He's ecstatic about remaining in the state.
"To say that next year if I came out I would end up in a better
situation, I don't think so," Miller said. "I ended up in the
best situation possible, and I'm just happy to be a part of it."
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Orlando Sr. Executive VP Pat Williams recaps the Magic's draft.