Mickael Pietrus, the perenially unhappy Warriors forward will be a member of the Orlando Magic next season. The cost: $25 million.
The deal will pay Pietrus a little over $6 million per season, and gives Orlando some much-needed defensive help at the shooting guard spot. The Magic must now figure out what to do about Keyon Dooling. The Orlando Sentinel has Dooling’s thoughts on the matter:
Dooling, who played with the Magic for the last three seasons as a point guard and shooting guard, said Tuesday afternoon that he had yet to receive an offer sheet from Orlando. He said at least seven teams have showed interest in him.
“It looks like they have filled their position at the 2. Pietrus will help us,” Dooling said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. Things are all over the place.”
Financially, it looks as though the Magic are tied up, as they have no interest in paying the luxury tax.
As for Pietrus, he did show flashes in Don Nelson’s system (despite a lack of playing time), but no one can say for sure how he will perform with more minutes. Regardless, $25 mil for a guy who averaged less than 8 points per night has to be considered a pretty nice pay day for Mickael and his agent.
