ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – Grant Hill is leaving the Orlando Magic after several injury-plagued seasons to join the Phoenix Suns, his agent said Thursday.
Hill, 34, was considering retirement or returning to Orlando for another season. His seven-year, $93 million contract just finished this season.
Agent Lon Babby said Hill agreed to a two-year deal worth about $1.8 million for the first year, with a second-year player option for about $2 million.
Teams are prohibited from commenting on any deals until the free agent signing period begins Wednesday.
Babby said about 15 teams courted Hill, and he could’ve taken more money elsewhere.
“I think the most important factor for him was the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to a team competing for the championship,” Babby said.
The agreement was first reported by ESPN.com and the Orlando Sentinel.
Hill’s expiring deal gave the Magic salary cap room to go after a big-name free agent. They have reportedly agreed to terms with Seattle SuperSonics forward Rashard Lewis, but the deal isn’t official until Wednesday.
This year was the first Hill finished healthy since arriving in Orlando in 2000 with a mysterious ankle injury that eventually required five surgeries. The Magic signed Tracy McGrady at the same time, but he left in a 2004 trade that brought in Steve Francis.
Hill has played only about a third of Orlando’s 574 regular-season games, and just once made the All-Star team since leaving the Detroit Pistons.
Babby said Phoenix didn’t promise Hill a starting job, and he wasn’t looking for one.
“I think all he was seeking was the opportunity to start,” Babby said. “It was the same promise that was made to him when he went to Duke. Nobody guarantees you anything and he wasn’t asking for guarantees.”
The Magic knew Hill had an ankle injury when they traded Ben Wallace and Chucky Atkins for him in 2000, but never expected it would take so long to heal. Hill appeared in just four games his first year with the Magic, 14 the next year and 29 the year after that. He missed the entire 2003-04 season.
Hill finally got on track in 2004-05, averaging almost 20 points and looking like the all-purpose player Orlando thought it was getting. Even then he couldn’t stay off the injury list, missing 15 games with wrist and shin problems.
In 2005-06, it was a sports hernia and lower abdominal injuries for another 61 missed games.
Some fans wrote the 6-foot-8 star off as a pricey bench fixture, but others found Hill hard to dislike. He is widely considered one of pro basketball’s nicest guys, and twice led the league in All-Star balloting (1995 and ’96).
Hill proved again this season he could still play. The former Duke star averaged 15 points as Orlando was swept in the first-round by his former team, the Pistons, and just under that during the regular season. He was the Magic’s best option driving the bucket, and at times seemed the only one playing with energy despite his age.
But Hill again missed 17 regular-season games this season with a knee sprain and other minor injuries.
For his career, Hill averages 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Despite all his success, he has never made it out of the first round of the NBA playoffs.
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