Hedo Turkoglu rejects Blazers, ends negotiations
Posted by Jason Quick, The Oregonian July 03, 2009 17:57PM
Categories: Breaking News
After a hectic 24 hours of face-to-face negotiations, The Oregonian has learned that free agent forward Hedo Turkoglu rejected the Trail Blazers' $50 million offer and announced he will look for another team.
"He's not coming,'' a source familiar with the negotiations said Friday evening.
In the end, it wasn't the money, it wasn't the team, and it wasn't the length of the contract.
"It just wasn't the right fit,'' the source said. "When you are talking about that much money, everybody involved has to feel great. If you don't on either side, it doesn't work.''
ESPN's Ric Bucher reported that Turkoglu's wife played a major factor in the decision, as she preferred living in Toronto more than she did Portland. The Raptors were the Blazers' staunchest opponent in the race to sign the 6-foot-10 forward, and appear to be the likely destination for the 30-year-old.
Agent Lon Babby was unavailable for comment.
It capped a wild day of erroneous reports that Turkoglu had reached an agreement with the Blazers. The first reports sprouted around noon on Friday, which was about the time a source inside the Blazers expressed concern that Toronto was making a late push. Toronto had the ability to offer Turkoglu more money than the Blazers, but would have to renounce several key players to do so.
The Blazers tabled an offer of $50 million for five years, but by 5:30 p.m., they were rejected and informed the negotiations were done.
Where the Blazers turn now is unclear.
Because the team is set with franchise players at shooting guard (Brandon Roy and Rudy Fernandez), power forward (LaMarcus Aldridge) and center (Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla) it is likely the team goes for a point guard, small forward or backup power forward.
The team had interest in signing Trevor Ariza, but the former Lakers forward agreed in principle Thursday night with Houston. Andre Miller is a free agent point guard and Paul Millsap, Brandon Bass and Antonio McDyess are quality power forwards who are free agents.
However, since the Blazers expect to be anywhere from $8 million to $10 million under the league's salary cap when it is announced July 7, they can execute an uneven trade with a team. That means they can take on a player with a higher contract than the player they give away.
That the Blazers were even addressing Plan B was a blow. They had targeted Turkoglu from the minute the free agent market opened, calling agent Lon Babby the first minute league rules allowed.
Turkoglu had recently opted out of the last year of his contract with Orlando, which would have paid him $7.3 million. In the same week, the Magic executed a draft-night trade for Vince Carter, who plays the same position as Turkoglu.
The Blazers figured Turkoglu would have given them one of the tallest starting lineups in the league, with a frontline consisting of 7-foot-1 Joel Przybilla or 7-foot Greg Oden at center, the 6-foot-11 LaMarcus Aldridge at power forward and Turkoglu at 6-10.
Team personnel raved about Turkoglu's basketball intelligence, and his ability to run the pick-and-roll. They also felt Turkoglu's nine-years in the NBA would have provided the young Blazers the experience and "know how" McMillan has been pining for the past three seasons. Turkogly had played in 82 playoff games, including 24 this season, when he averaged a well-rounded 15.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists. In the regular season, he averaged 16.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists.
His best season was 2007-2008, when he was voted the NBA's Most Improved Player after averaging a career-high 19.5 points to go along with 5.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists.
But in the end, it just didn't fit.
Thirty minutes after Turkoglu rejected the offer, the Blazers were believed to be back on the phone lines.
