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so there pretty much trying to win it next year before they get screwed over in 2010 because of darius miles
Jason Kidd: On Portland’s Radar
Hidayet Turkoglu: Portland Among Suitors?Update: Kidd is among the free agents the Blazers are expected to pursue this offseason, The Oregonian reports.
Recommendation: At 36, Kidd would provide the Blazers with a veteran presence from the point guard position. The Blazers have some money to tinker with this offseason, but Kidd is expected to come with a hefty price tag and is expected to resign with the Mavs. Still, he would fit right in with an young, athletic Blazers’ core.
Update: The Blazers are rumored to be interested in signing Turkoglu this offseason, The Oregonian reports.
Recommendation: After a breakout season, Portland is looking to add a veteran presence to their young core. Turkoglu would step in as their starting small forward, complimenting Brandon Roy(notes) and LaMarcus Aldridge(notes). Without a solid point guard on the roster, Hedo would also be able to handle the ball from the “point-forward” position, similar to the role he carved out with Orlando. Portland seems to be an ideal fit for Turkoglu if he doesn’t re-up with the Magic.
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The Oregonian piece referred to:
Latest NBA rumor: Blazers targeting Turkoglu, Kidd?
by Sean Meagher
Nothing better to usher us into the weekend than a big, juicy rumor.
From Yahoo! Sports and Adrian Wojnarowski:
Read that again: "... determined to sign ..." Any validity to this? Who knows. But Wojnarowski is pretty accurate in these situations (despite his needless article on Kevin Pritchard earlier this year).For all the Portland Trail Blazers' usual misdirection plays about moving up in the draft, few say they're sincere in climbing into the lottery. Ultimately, it's thought that the Blazers are trying to clear cap space - perhaps as much as $10 million - and multiple league executives think Portland is determined to sign Orlando Magic free agent Hedo Turkoglu.
For now, the Blazers are trying to find a taker for point guard Sergio Rodriguez and his $1.6 million salary. They're interested in Dallas Mavericks free agent Jason Kidd, too. The Mavericks want to keep Kidd, who will probably ask for $8 million a season.
As we know Turkoglu opted out of his current contract with the Magic a day after losing to the Lakers in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. The final year of that deal would have paid him $7.4M and as Woj points out above, he will likely net a new deal worth around $10M per season. This article from the Orlando Sentinel says it's believed the starting price for Hedo, 30, may be around $10M. And I'm sure there will be plenty of suitors.
He has expressed interest in returning to Orlando, but the best offer will likely win out:
And as noted above the Magic may pony up and pay Turkoglu and keep their Finals core together:"I don't want to leave here. I've been here five years and have great memories, but I have to secure myself and my family," he said.
Magic Chief Operating Officer Alex Martins said that ownership has given the club a green light to spend more on payroll --- even venture into the punitive luxury tax for the first time in team history --- in order to re-sign players such as Turkoglu.
Asked if he might take less to re-sign with the Magic --- who lost to the L.A. Lakers in the NBA Finals --- Turkoglu smiled and said, "Depends on how much less it is.' Look, I have good stuff going on here. I'm not stupid."
And despite No. 1 pick and gold medalist Dwight Howard, Hedo may have proved himself the most important player on the Magic this postseason:"We've always avoided the tax, but winning has a crazy effect on people," Magic President Bob Vander Weide admitted. "The (DeVos) family (which owns the team) is having fun right now. I don't think anyone has a willingness to stay in tax for 10 years, but to go in for a few years to ride this out, I don't think that's threatening to our family short term."
The intoxicating euphoria of winning has to be just what Turkoglu and reserve center Marcin Gortat, a restricted free agent, are banking on. Rashard Lewis ($18.8 million) and Dwight Howard ($15.1 million) take up the bulk of the team's payroll, and giving Turkoglu another double-digit salary could cost the Magic some of the other pieces on the roster.
Hedo's testing the market, and at this point, the whole league knows how good he is. But, as we saw in this postseason, he's absolutely invaluable to the Magic. Look at the playoffs; they can win without Nelson, but when Hedo's not himself, they stumble, as in the Orlando-Boston series.
The Magic were a lot of things: A developing team that got there a little early; a team that had to make due with an incomplete version of itself; a team that learned a lot about itself at just the right time.
Hedo is obviously a very attractive free agent this summer after a career year (in what amounted to a contract year) and a strong playoff performance. He's a hot shooter from just about any spot on the court and possesses exceptional ball handling skills for a 6-10 forward.
At 30, he's playing the best basketball of his career. How much longer can he play at this level? How long should the contract be? Is $10M a year too much?
Zach McCann of Orlando Magic Daily (via TrueHoop) asks the question, How much is Hedo Turkoglu really worth?
But to other teams, is Turkoglu really worth close to eight figures? John Hollinger's Player Efficiency Rating isn't perfect, but it's probably the best method we have of comparing players. Turkoglu's PER this season was less than Travis Outlaw, Marvin Williams, Grant Hill, Rudy Gay, Anthony Randolph and Richard Jefferson. And PER often punishes player who are shut-down defenders -- something Turkoglu is not.
We all know the intangibles of Hedo Turkoglu -- his ball-handling skills, his abilities to create mismatches, his knack for shooting well in the clutch -- are why he's so valuable to the Orlando Magic. But it can't be ignored how much Turkoglu fell off from last season to this season.
2007-08: 19.5 points, 5.0 assists, 5.7 rebounds, 45.6 FG%, 40.0 3P%
2008-09: 16.8 points, 4.9 assists, 5.3 rebounds, 41.3 FG%, 35.6 3P%
It's not like 30-year-old players regularly bounce back after down years. It's hard to imagine the Magic, or any team, think Turkoglu's career year of 2007-08 is the norm. The Turkoglu we saw this season is likely what most people expect out of Turkoglu going forward. Is 16-5-5 with a poor shooting percentage worth $10 million?
The post from Magic Daily also lists comparable players to Turkoglu and their contracts. Worth a read.
so there pretty much trying to win it next year before they get screwed over in 2010 because of darius miles
How about Shaq for Oden? Old for crippled. Then the suns can raise money every home game having the crowd bet on if Oden or Sideshow bob fouls out first.
a slow pg and a sf who needs to hog the ball to be effective. yes!
Well, I'd take an old and slow Kidd over Blake. They probably won't get Turk though, the Magic realize how much they need him and have already said they'll pay the lux tax to keep him.
It's no secret that the Blazers are looking for a point guard and will try to get one through any means possible.
they have to first dump rodriguez so until that happens this is just a rumor for now. if it happens now we are talking possible deals
There was a rumor about Rodriguez to the Knicks where his skills would fit nicely.
Yea I've been hearing this a lot and wouldn't be surprised if it happens... he will fit in nicely on that team under dantoni.
The Blazers have two great young PG's in Sergio & Bayless. They don't need Kidd. They just need to stop playing Steve Blake.
bayless is not a pg
Blazers should have drafted Durant in 07 and Augustin in 08.
True, but at least in 84 they didn't pass up Michael Jordan to take Sam Bowie, oh wait.
Meh pass, I'd rather see Nate Robinson but overall I'm happy with the entire group Blazers have. They could be fine just keeping the core.
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