Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Magic sign Chris Duhon

With two of their point guards becoming free agents this offseason, the Orlando Magic needed to find depth behind starter Jameer Nelson.

It appears that depth will come in the form of former New York Knicks point guard Chris Duhon.

ESPN.com's Chad Ford reported this morning that Duhon's agent has confirmed a 4 year/$15 million deal with the Magic.

Duhon spent the last two seasons of his career in New York after signing a free agent deal there in the summer of 2008. He averaged 7.4 points and 5.6 assists per game last season.



Statistically, Duhon's best season of his career came in 2008-2009, his first season with the Knicks. That year, Duhon ranked 10th in the NBA in assists per game with 7.2 and 9th in overall assists with 566. He also averaged double-digits in points (11.1 ppg) for the first time in his career.

Duhon's two seasons in New York followed four seasons as a member of the Chicago Bulls, who acquired his rights in a 2004 draft night trade with the Toronto Raptors for Matt Bonner. Duhon was a second round pick, No. 39 overall in the '04 draft.

Over his four seasons in Chicago, Duhon was mostly a backup, averaging 6.9 points and 4.5 assists per game. The Bulls made the playoffs in each of his first three years with the team, but never made it through the second round. Over 21 postseason games, Duhon has career playoff averages of 4.7 points and 2.6 assists per game.

Duhon was drafted out of Duke University in 2004 where he was part of a National Championship team as a freshman in 2000-2001. Duhon was the teammate of Magic restricted free agent guard J.J. Redick for two years at Duke and Duhon was named to the Associated Press All-America third team as a senior. He was also a McDonald's All-American out of high school in 2000.

The signing of Duhon probably means the end of the one-year Magic career of Jason Williams. Williams averaged six points and 3.6 assists per game last season while playing in all 82 games. He received 18 starts when Nelson was hurt.

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