Grant Me A Break

Vacation over. What did I miss?

After six injury-ravaged seasons with the Orlando Magic, Grant Hill has signed with the Suns. For anyone who was surprised, saddened, or indignant about this, may I make a suggestion: save it.

My main man Mike Bianchi traded in his media credential for a seat with the fans this morning when he lamented Hill's decision:

"I thought Grant Hill was different. I thought he would do the classy thing. The noble thing. The right thing. Silly me. Somehow, I thought Grant was above being a mercenary. I thought he would make the difficult and decent choice, not the easy selfish one."

While Mike later claims that "logically, you can't blame him," he devotes the remaining 795 words of his column hammering Hill for not throwing the Magic a bone and giving them one last healthy season at a hometown discount. The possibility of Hill staying with the Magic for another year as "payback" for his six unfulfilling seasons was wishful thinking by many (including me) who would never dream of such a sacrifice were it not for Grant's unique sense of sophistication and humanity. If anyone would do it, we thought, it would be Grant Hill.

The difference is, I figured he might do it, because he's that kind of guy. However, I never expected him to do it, because he's a professional athlete, and this is a business.

Mike makes some excellent points in his column. Hill was indeed treated like a king here, from start to finish. Judging the financial weight of his contract on the franchise, and with the caveat that it wasn't his fault at all, Grant Hill is, as Mike argues, the worst free-agent signing in Magic history. In fact, the qualities that made us like the guy so much -- his intelligence, his grace, his utter professionalism -- are the only reasons why he wasn't routinely roasted by media and fans. Plus, Mike's "break a leg" line in his column was funny. Mean, but funny.

But the angst? "Hey, Orlando, you stood by me. Now I'm going to stand by you."? Get serious.

As a native Orlandoan (actually, Winter Parkian), I'm allowed to say this: it's an incredibly naive sports town. Always has been. When Shaquille O'Neal left the Magic in 1996 to bask in the bright lights of Los Angeles (for less money, by the way), fans here were incredulous. Righteous indignation flowed in the streets. Never mind that 93 percent of those fans who responded to a brilliantly timed Orlando Sentinel poll suggested that O'Neal wasn't worth a max contract.

Four rings. Ask the Lakers and the Heat how much O'Neal is worth.

Eleven years later, the Magic have lent their weight to a venues plan that would give area residents a new performing arts center (to rival the one that's already up and running in the thriving metropolis of Daytona Beach), a renovated Citrus Bowl (and potentially an SEC or ACC Championship Game with it), and an arena that David Stern has guaranteed will host an NBA All-Star Game in addition to the NCAA tournament contests that would surely flock here. The great majority of this project will be paid for by the millions of annual tourists who currently clog our highways and create two-hour lines through security at the airport. This money, by the way, cannot be used to improve roads or schools, per state law. And how do the masses react to this bold leap into the 21st century?

They argue about it. Incessantly. Meanwhile, Tampa is getting first and second round games of the men's NCAA Basketball Tournament next year, the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament and the NCAA Volleyball Championships in '09, and the NCAA Frozen Four in 2012. Oh, and the ACC played its men's basketball tournament in Tampa last spring to rave reviews. And did I mention that the Super Bowl is coming back to Tampa for a fourth time in 2009?

Any idea how many hotel nights those events will fill? Any clue as to the economic impact for greater Tampa? Like I said, naive.

I think Mike is half-serious and half-pushing-buttons in his column -- in other words, doing what columnists are supposed to do -- and I love the fact that he unfailingly takes the side of the righteous in his work. I'd much rather read that than the cynical bashing found elsewhere. But if you happen to agree with him completely, and have jumped off the Grant Hill train forever, you may want to read the Sentinel's accompanying story by Brian Schmitz, where we learn all we need to know about Hill's decision.

First, the Suns offered him two years, not one. You cannot overstate the importance of that fact. By all accounts, the Magic wanted him back for one year, the aforementioned "payback" year. Two years says "we consider you an important piece of the puzzle." One year says "don't unpack."

Secondly, like Shaquille O'Neal before him, Hill left money on the table to leave the Magic -- if we are to believe his agent, who claims that several teams offered Hill the midlevel exception of $5.5 million. His deal with Phoenix, on the other hand, is worth $1.8 million in the first year and $1.9 million in the second, meaning he's down $3.7 million in his first season in the Valley of the Sun. That makes him a selfish mercenary?

No, what it makes him is a 35-year-old veteran who wants to win now. He knows his window is closing; the Suns have averaged 59 wins over the last three seasons, won their division all three years, and were within two suspensions of reaching the Western Conference Finals this year. Grant Hill wants to win. The Suns are a winning team, one that plays a style of basketball with which Hill is very comfortable. It's not that complicated.

But wait -- Orlando reached the playoffs this year. Dwight Howard is a monster. Stan Van Gundy wants to open it up, Suns-style. Even hardened observers grant that the Magic are having a pretty good off-season. Why not stay and enjoy the resurgence in O-town?

Well, the team just committed $80 million dollars to Rashard Lewis, who happens to play Hill's natural (and preferred) position of small forward. Lewis is 28 years old and coming off his best season as a pro. Hill is 35 and coming off more surgery than Michael Jackson. Who do you think would get the starting gig at the 3 next year?

If Hill stayed in Orlando, the only way he'd see the floor for any significant minutes -- alongside Lewis -- would be as a shooting guard, where he's been laboring out of position since Tracy McGrady was dealt to Houston in 2004. As Hill himself said, he didn't think he could keep playing the "2," or shooting guard spot. He wasn't quick enough to handle other guards defensively, and his offensive game is at the basket, not outside the arc (259 three-pointers attempted in 635 career games, an average of one trey every 2.4 games). In Phoenix, where small-ball is the rule, Hill will be asked to do nothing but play small forward (and by the way, the Suns have apparently told him he will start over Boris Diaw, which is not insignificant either).

So let's see. You can start at your natural position next to Steve Nash, Shawn Marion, and Amare Stoudemire for a club that has reached the playoffs in 17 of the last 19 seasons (including ten trips to the conference semifinals or deeper), or you can play out of position for a team that's enjoyed one postseason in the last four, and hasn't gone beyond the first round since 1996. By the way, you're 35 years old.

I'm not surprised that Grant Hill went to Phoenix. I'm surprised that he even considered staying in Orlando.

Look, I know where Mike is coming from. Every Magic fan feels burned by Grant Hill, or more correctly, by his ankle. But if you need a place to vent, direct your ire at the NBA's collective bargaining agreement and the concept of guaranteed contracts. Unlike the NFL, pro basketball players have an almost impenetrable layer of security, one that was negotiated many years ago by the players' union and has never been seriously challenged.

Get hurt? Get fat? Get slow? You still get paid.

If that system were different -- if the Magic could have received some kind of cap relief based on Hill's extraordinary history of injuries, space that would have allowed the team to pursue other options -- nobody would care that Hill is now leaving. Sure, we'd be sad to see him go, because he's a decent man and a great interview, but he'd just be a player who was in street clothes for more than half of his six seasons here. He'd simply be "injury-prone," not "the worst free agent signing in franchise history." If the $93 million dollar contract wasn't an issue, Grant Hill's departure would be met with a collective shrug, and a fare-thee-well.

If you're mad, be mad at the lawyers that drew up the CBA, and the owners that signed off on it. But don't be mad at Grant Hill, because he did absolutely nothing wrong, and nothing that you wouldn't do in the same position.

In six years in Orlando, Grant Hill provided invaluable leadership and maturity in a locker room that was often chaotic. When healthy, he played his heart out, while displaying a calm sense of control that will only benefit his (former) teammates in the long run. When injured, he rehabbed himself furiously, often to his own detriment. He was visible in the community, generous with his time and money, and respectful to those around him, including the media. Orlando -- the city and the franchise -- was lucky to have him, regardless of the cost. I've been around countless professional athletes, and Grant Hill is as good as it gets. Trust me. Even my main man Mike Bianchi would admit that.

Good luck, Mr. Hill. I wish you health and happiness. Definitely health.