Magic's man
Lost in the shuffle of Brand's impending deal is the signing of Mickael Pietrus by the Orlando Magic, first confirmed to Florida Today by Magic general manager Otis Smith. Bill McCandless, Pietrus's agent, acknowledged the deal to Sporting News Tuesday evening.
By McCandless' count, it has been a grueling 372 days for Pietrus. Last summer, Pietrus was one of the players suffering in the purgatory of restricted free agency. Pietrus even considered holding out. He was finally forced to accept a one-year offer from the Golden State Warriors, then was miscast as a power forward in coach Don Nelson's system.
"It will be nice," McCandless said, "to see Mickael in a normal position, away from Nellie's system. He is moving up two spots, from power forward to shooting guard."
McCandless said 11 teams were interested in Pietrus but only five were serious. It came down to Orlando or Detroit, with Atlanta also a possibility. For the Pistons, Pietrus would have been a reserve. With the Magic he will start, McCandless was told, not at power forward, but at the more natural shooting guard spot.
"It was not the most lucrative offer," McCandless said. "But the opportunity, combined with the money, to start for an up-and-coming team was too much to pass up. He could have gotten the same money, or more, from Detroit. But he would have been coming off the bench. ... It becomes a matter of timing. Orlando had the perfect spot for him. You have the threat of someone else moving into the spot. We did not want to wake up tomorrow and find that Otis had signed someone else." McCandless said he and the Magic agreed not to release the financial terms of the deal. But he did say it is a four-year contract, with Pietrus possessing an option to terminate after three years. Another source says that the deal will be worth about $25 million over the four years. "