Are the Magic Hiding Darko?

It's probably a little premature to be talking free agency, but there's some interesting news on the Darko front. A starter for much of March, the punchline of the 2003 Draft has shown some serious flashes. Orlando wants to keep him, and yet you can count on several other teams vying for his services.

So what do the Magic do with their enigmatic big man? They send him to the bench. From Florida Today:

Darko Milicic lost his job in the starting lineup because of injury, but the Orlando Magic power forward said he doesn't fear the demotion will hurt him this summer when he becomes a free agent...

"It just happens that I couldn't play the same night that Tony was coming back because of my back injury," Milicic said. "I'm starting to get my minutes back now coming off the bench. I'm not worried about (the demotion). I just want to help this team get into the playoffs. That's all I'm thinking about now."

Darko is supposedly okay with it, but also "hopes losing his starting job won't affect his free-agent appeal." Which brings up the obvious question: do you keep a young player around by benching him? This move by the Orlando staff isn't going to tell other teams anything they didn't already know; it's not like they're concealing him from would-be suitors. They just don't seem to get the (restricted) free in "free agency."