Meanwhile in another NBA city in Florida. The Orlando Magic unfazed by the ripple caused by Miami Thrice, signed former Heat starter Quentin Richardson to a multi-year deal according to the Orlando Sentinel worth about $8 million give or take a few milli. The addition of Q-Rich for lack of a better term kind puts the re-signing of free agent Matt Barnes “kinda out there” since SVG digs Q-Rich.
“Quentin’s a great addition for us,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “I really like him. He adds a lot of things for us, he brings us toughness, he’s physical, can shoot it deep and can post up.”
It would only seem right if the Heat were able to sign Barnes with his Kobe taunting ways and all, but it looks like Barnes is out for more paper than Miami would potentially offer him and the jersey Barnes ends up wearing at the beginning of the season doesn’t really seem to matter to him as long as the price is right.
“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.”
I’ve eaten cereal at night, so I can’t blame Barnes for wanting some extra scratch. Ideally retaining Barnes would be a plus to the Magic bench, but with pay cuts galore going on everywhere in could be “Barnes Voyage”. Last season with the Heat, Richardson averaged 8.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game shooting a career-high 39.7 percent from 3-point range.
