Archive for July, 2009

Well, so much for that idea. Hedo Turkoglu has pulled out of talks with the Blazers and is likely headed to Toronto to sign a new deal. It’s confirmed by The Oregonian, ESPN, CBS, the Grinch, Snuffleupagus and my bag of Sour Patch Kids. From Quick’s story: “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 [...]

Via Blazersedge and Henry Abbott (great scoop) — and ESPN: According to Henry Abbott of TrueHoop, as reported on ESPN’s Sportscenter, the Portland Trail Blazers have reached an agreement in principle with free agent forward Hedo Turkoglu.  The terms of the deal have not been finalized. This has seemed certain for a day now, but the confirmation is always nice. As I’ve said before, I like the deal because Roy doesn’t have to initiate all the offense now, and all the Blazers bigs have a wing with court vision to get them easy buckets off the pick-and-roll. We’ll analyze this later, [...]

Via the Toronto Globe and Mail, Shawn Marion is about to get paid: First things first: the latest word is that the three-year, $21-million deal that has been speculated as the Raptors’ offer for Shawn Marion might be a bit light, I’m hearing. Think four years and north of $32-million; maybe as much as $34-million. If that’s the case what is Marion waiting for, really? This is good news for Portland, as it takes their main competition for Hedo Turkoglu out of the game. The Raptors would have had to renounce their rights to Marion, along with other rotation players, [...]

So much for that “late bid” that Portland supposedly threw in for the services on Trevor Ariza. Confirming rumors that were floating around all day, Trevor Ariza will sign with the Houston Rockets, essentially completing the non-trade trade of Ron Artest-for-Ariza. That’s one less small forward for Portland to worry about in their pursuit of Turkoglu, but it also might ramp up the competition from Toronto if they should desire. You might think I’m crazy, but I’d rather have Turkoglu right now than Ariza, even considering age. The Blazers already have a carbon-copy, skills-wise but not experience-wise, in Nic Batum, [...]

Jason Quick has the latest on Hedo Turkoglu’s visit to the Pacific Northwest, where he’ll be until Saturday. Brian Wheeler said earlier that if things continue as they have been, the Blazers might have a verbal agreement by tomorrow. Here’s some select tidbits: McMillan, who dined with Turkoglu on Wednesday night in Orlando, has been emphatic in his endorsement of Turkoglu, urging Pritchard to seal the deal. Pritchard meanwhile said he grew to admire Turkoglu even more this spring while watching him help Orlando reach the NBA Finals. … “We need someone to get us over the hump, and we [...]

Last night, Jason Quick continued to do work with his report that both Kevin Pritchard and Nate McMillan were surprised to hear about Rudy Fernandez alledged ‘fury’. Here are quotes from Quick’s piece: “I just spoke with Rudy two days ago, to see how he was doing, and he said he was doing fine and that he was happy,” McMillan said. “I talked to him about our moves, and how we did in the draft, and why we did what we did in the draft and he was fine with it. We talked about Sergio (Rodriguez) and he was OK with everything [...]

This morning, Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune reported that the alleged sign-and-trade deal which would have sent Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw to the Philadelphia 76ers for Andre Miller is dead. Or as he said ‘pooh-pooh’ed by the man himself, Mr. Kevin Pritchard: “Pritchard shot down one rumor – the Blazers sending Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw to Philadelphia in a sign-and-trade for Andre Miller – Tuesday night. “No,” Pritchard said in a text message when asked if the trade would happen. “Nothing to it,” a 76ers representative said to the same query.” As Eggers mentioned in his piece, [...]

Bombshell of the day material and it is coming right out of left field. Chris Sheridan over at ESPN.com reports that Portland’s pursuit of Hedo Turkoglu has ‘infuriated’ Rudy Fernandez. That’s right. According to this report, if Rudy was a smiley face he’d definitely be the one en fuego right now. According to Sheridan, he’s not just mad….he may bolt: “Portland’s pursuit of a certain player from Turkey has infuriated the Trail Blazers’ lone remaining Spanish player, Rudy Fernandez, to the point where he’d prefer to play in Greece, Russia or even Spain again, ESPN.com learned Tuesday. A league source [...]

ESPN’s Marc Stein reports that Hedo Turkoglu will be having dinner with coach Nate McMillan tonight and will then tour Portland tomorrow. On Thursday he will also meet with Kevin Pritchard and Tom Penn. Stein also had this to say: “Turkoglu is widely expected to land with the Blazers as the first marquee free-agent signing of Pritchard’s reign.” It looks as if Hedo to Portland is no longer just a flimsy idea but a reality. Much more on this as more comes, stay tuned.

No smokescreens, no posturing, no rumors. Kevin Pritchard and the Blazers want Hedo Turkoglu, and they want him now, as in seconds after free-agency opened now. It’s a lot to process, all the thoughts and opinions out there, but here we go: Ken Berger made the first call (I believe) and put down the number $50 million on the table. That’s a hell of a lot of dough for a 30-year old small forward, but every time I scratch my head about it, I remember that this is Portland’s only summer with cap space, and saving a few dollars by [...]