Magic Trade No. 54 Pick To Rockets Before NBA Draft

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- The Orlando Magic traded the No. 54 pick to the Houston Rockets for cash hours before Thursday's NBA draft.<br/><br/>The move left Orlando with one second-round selection -- No.

Thursday, June 28th 2007, 4:26 pm

By: News On 6

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- The Orlando Magic traded the No. 54 pick to the Houston Rockets for cash hours before Thursday's NBA draft.

The move left Orlando with one second-round selection -- No. 44. Last year, the Magic traded what would have been a first-round pick to Detroit in the Darko Milicic-Carlos Arroyo deal.

For Orlando, the start of free agent negotiations Sunday will be far more significant than the draft. The team wants to quickly re-sign Milicic, a restricted free agent, then pursue a scorer with the salary cap room they have left.

The team still doesn't know whether Grant Hill will return. His expiring 7-year, $93-million deal freed up cap room this year.