I am not sure if this is really Darko related news because it did not come from either of my sources with the Magic, but I will tell you what I heard from the Warriors. The Warriors contacted Darko’s agent and let him know they were interested. However what came back to them was a little shocking. They were told Darko would not be considering any deals for any team at the MLE right now. My friend who works for the Warriors was told by his boss, “DARKO WANTS TO PLAY FOR THE MAGIC.” I am not sure if this was told to them by his agent because that would make no sense, or if they are assuming this is the case, or they heard it from somewhere else. Like I said, I am not putting a great deal of fait in this because it is 3rd and fourth hand at best. But I thought it was interesting so I thought I would share.
That is the first bit of news. The second bit of news is my same friend was told it is now almost a certainty Lewis will be coming to Orlando in a sign and trade. What he heard was it will work out one of two ways. There is apparently a 3rd team involved and it is now down to how Seattle wants things to work out. It will either be a two-team trade (Sonics & Magic), or it will be with a 3rd team involved. This was news to me because I have not heard of any third team directly involved in these discussions. So take both of these two things with a grain of salt becuase that is what I am doing. Just thought I would pass it along. My friend Henry has been right about a lot of things in the past, that is why I am blogging about it.
I did contact one of my sources with the Magic and got very little from the conversationl, however one thing for sure was that there were a lot of mixed feelings around RDV because of Hill leaving. Otis feels really really spurned by Grant. Since I am not really privy to the talks he had prior to this year trading dealing, there is no real way of knowing what was on the table for Grant Hill. I do know that back then the biggest talk I heard was if they traded Grant it may be for a quality veteran, but the deal would include salaries of players the Magic wanted to trade so they would still have cap space for this off-season. It is really not even fair to Otis to sit here and discuss those potential deals, other than I know Otis took input from Grant before deciding not to go with any of those deals.
I am having a hard time trying to decide if I still like Grant Hill. I just have a hard time with someone that did his best to avoid being traded this year and then walk for nothing. Yeah he is on the backside of his career, but that should not matter. I would compare this to fan favorite Bo Outlaw doing the same thing, and then walking because he thought he could chase a cheap ring. Why couldn’t Grant have a little Bo Outlaw in him? I used to not like seeing Bo take up a roster space sometimes or take minutes away from the young players, but now I have a much stronger appreciation for Bo now more than ever. Next time you go to a Magic game and you see Bo warming up, remember he is a guy that has done anything the Magic have ever asked for. He realized he received a bloated deal from the Magic and it was him that made the Magic trade away Ben Wallace. Now he spends his life committed to this franchise. It sure would have been nice to have his ideals rub off on Grant Hill.
Back to my friend with the Magic, the main reason I called him was I read in the Orlando Sentinel where Otis said he left “messages” with Darko’s agent trying to smooth things over. I was a little bent out of shape about that because I would think it would be important to reach him directly. So I had to vent a little. The big surprise to me is that Otis is now talking again to Marc and the fences are beginning to be mended. Kind of like I said a few blogs ago, it will come down to money and the magic will probably have the most when it is all said and done. I only bring this up because it kind of tied in to what I was told by my friend with the Warriors.
It makes a lot of sense that the email Otis sent to Darko hit home and Darko still wants to be with the Magic. If you remember at the end of last season he even hinted he would give Orlando a discount because he liked it here. I think Darko’s days in Detroit are paying dividends right now. You see Darko has already been to a team that in his words “was hell for him”. It would seem his happiness is #1 on his list. Yes money will be important, but Darko likes Orlando and likes his teammates. With all the uncertainty up to this point in his career, it is very understandable why Darko would still want to see what the Magic could do for him. You have to feel bad for the guy because his experience as a NBA player has not been anything he has expected.
So I thought I would share a bit of optimism, a little silver lining to the few Dark(o) Clouds. Let me know what you think and help me decide how I should feel about grant Hill. Right now I am really leaning toward he is more like a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
EDIT - Now that I am thinking about it and want 3rd team may be involved, it makes sense the Hawks would be involved for a lot of reasons. If the Sonics do not want to take back a bunch of expiring contracts it would make sense to trade Watson to the Hawks, Lewis to the Magic and then the Sonics would only need to take back 2 players rather than 3. Seems like that would solve the problems for the Hawks, Sonics and Magic. Now this is starting to bug me so I am going to spend sometime hunting this down. I do know the Magic and Sonics had talks prior to the draft with the Hawks and both had deals that were close. Hawks need a veteran PG to mentor their new rookie. No good PG's are on the market. I am just putting thoughts down right now, but this would make the most sense if a third team really is involved. No reason for my friend to tell me about a 3rd team if he did not get that information somewhere. But last time I heard anything about the deal out of RDV is that it was at a "stalemate", which now that I think about it, that could mean a lot of things.
