Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy is happy with the Richardson signing.
"“Quentin’s a great addition for us,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “I really like him.”It is believed that Richardson signed a multiyear deal — likely three years — for between $7.5 million to $8 million. He received what remained of the Magic’s midlevel exception after the club signed point guard Chris Duhon last week."
Brian Schmitz has that story here.
Tim Povtak of NBA Fanhouse says the arrival of Quentin Richardson marks the end of Matt Barnes’ tenure in Orlando.
"Magic general manager Otis Smith confirmed the addition of Richardson. He also said it would not deter him from matching the offer received by J.J. Redick from the Chicago Bulls.“One has nothing to do with the other,” Smith said.The addition of Richardson likely means the end in Orlando for Matt Barnes, last season’s starting small forward. The Magic still hope to keep Redick."
You can read that story here.
Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald believes this makes Redick closer to becoming a Bull but then admitted that this is probably Barnes’ replacement.
"The Magic is already well above the luxury-tax threshold. After signing Richardson, and Chris Duhon earlier this month, Orlando has roughly $83 million in salary commitments for next season without Redick.The luxury tax kicks in at $70.3 million, so the Magic is facing a tax bill of $13 million that could grow to $20 million if it keeps Redick.Orlando might see Richardson as a replacement for forward Matt Barnes, who opted out of next year’s contract worth $1.6 million. Barnes angered Magic GM Otis Smith by complaining via Twitter message that he hadn’t received an offer from Orlando, so he probably won’t return."
You can read that story here.
John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com says the Magic have a big decision to make.
"Because the Magic are already a luxury-tax-paying team, Chicago reportedly front-loaded its contract offer to Redick to make it more difficult for Orlando to match. The deal calls for Redick to make approximately $7.5 million in the first year, $6.5 million in the second season and $5 million in the third. Smith admitted that those figures were somewhat surprising, but not surprising considering the improvement that Redick made this season and the toughness that he played with during the playoffs.“My take on it is that J.J. gives us another asset, but that asset has to make good dollars and sense,’’ Smith said. “Did he come in a little higher than where we projected his salary to be? Yes, a little bit. The decision isn’t about how they loaded the contract, but instead how much higher he is above where we projected him to be.’’The Magic must make a decision by Friday, and Smith plans to use all of his allotted time to make that decision."
You can read that story here.
Matt Barnes wants to return to Orlando and will be disappointed if he doesn’t.
"“Honestly, it doesn’t look good,” said Barnes, who had opted out of the final year of his two-year deal to test the free-agent market.“Like I said in the beginning, right when the season was ending, I was taking a chance by opting out,” Barnes said. “But with everything going on with the collective bargaining agreement next year, I just felt this would be the best situation to kind of make a little bit of money before they change all the rules about that.“But this is a business. From Day One, I think I’ve known that maybe a little better than anybody else in the NBA. So, if they choose not to bring me back, I always say a team’s got to do what’s best for their organization. That’s kind of the way I look at that.”"
Josh Robbins has that story here.
Brian Schmitz wonders if there are trades in the works to keep J.J. Redick.
George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel says we shouldn’t expect any blockbuster moves from the Magic.
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and a contributor on the Fansided Front Page. Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Twitter to follow him daily and you can get the HTD app here).