(Grant Hill making his way between Stephon Marbury and JYD in Friday’s 104-98 Orlando defeat of New York)
Though Grant Hill’s ’04 comeback is both startling and inspiring (and pisses all over CSTB’s doomy-gloomy outlook for the former Duke star), the Orlando Sentinel’s Brian Schmitz adds some words of caution.
The star-crossed relationship between the Orlando Magic’s franchise and Grant Hill was officially — and financially — cemented Friday night.
Hill now counts on the Magic’s salary cap from this point forward, whether he sustains a career-ending injury or not.
His remaining salary for the final two years would have come off the books if he had played no more than nine games in one season or less than 15 over two seasons, and had sustained a career-ending injury. He missed last season rehabilitating from his fourth surgery on his left ankle.
Magic General Manager John Weisbrod said he knew the cap-relief issue with Hill would be a moot point after watching him play this summer at Duke University. “It might have been on other people’s minds but not mine,” Weisbrod said. “I was hoping he could play. We weren’t thinking about the advantages of him breaking it again or anything like that.”