Several general managers and agents in the NBA believe that the Portland Trail Blazers — a rising club like the Magic — might offer the stiffest competition to sign Turkoglu. The Detroit Pistons, Toronto Raptors and Atlanta Hawks also have salary-cap room to put Turkoglu in play.

And from Chad Ford’s ESPN chat today, there’s two little nuggets:

Ford: …Lots of teams would be interest in Ariza including the Blazers and Pistons … two teams with cap room.

and

Random dude using Kevin Pritchard moniker: I will be trading up in the draft and grabbing Blair for our back up PF. I will also be using the cap space to make a run at Nash, Kidd, Miller and Sessions – in that order. I might even throw our hat in the Turkeyglue sweepstakes. Approve/Disapprove?

Ford: That’s not totally far off. The Blazers do like DeJuan Blair. Nash isn’t a free agent so that’s an issue. I do see Turkoglu as a target … but they may not have enough cash. Blazers are looking at around $7 to $8 million in room this year.

If you haven’t heard by now, Atlanta’s Josh Smith is apparently “available“.

We’ve worn out Turkoglu’s name discussing him already, but I still maintain that he’d be a great fit if the price is right. But now that he reportedly wants $10 million a year, the price probably isn’t going to be right. Same with Ariza. Do I like him? Yes, as much as anyone. Am I willing to pay him what his agent is likely to ask for after Ariza won a title? Probably not.

Blair might be a very interesting opportunity on draft-day if he falls into the late teens because of knee concerns. If it only costs you Sergio to move up 6-8 spots, I don’t see any reason not to make the move unless Portland’s medical staff is worried about Blair, too. He’s got Paul Milsap written all over him. But if it’s going to cost too much to get him, the Blazers will probably be better off going after Brandon Bass or Antonio McDyess.

As for the PG’s discussed, I’m glad Ford pointed out that Nash isn’t a free agent, since lots of Portland fans seem to think we could just acquire him with our cap space. I’m not going to pretend to know what Steve Kerr is up to since nearly every Sun has been involved in one trade rumor or another, but keep in mind that Nash is the identity of that team right now and the reason why there’s still all those frontrunner fans in Phoenix these days. I’m not saying he’s not available, but Steve Nash isn’t going anywhere in a salary dump or the Sergio/Outlaw platter.

Kidd, on the other hand, could probably be had with our cap space. And a small part of me wants to believe he might be in that “Take less money to win now” stage of his career where he might take a fraction of his former paycheck to ensure the Blazers have some dough left to throw around. After Kidd, though, I’m probably more inclined to try and pry Sessions away from the Bucks than go after Miller.

In the end, our discussions shouldn’t focus on who we think is a good fit with the Blazers or who is better than who at which stage of their respective careers. These are all good players we’re talking about, so we should be focused on what we’d be willing to give up in acquiring any of them.

So who would you be willing to trade for Nash? How much money — or how much of our cap room — would you offer Kidd, Dice, Bass, Miller or Sessions? Is moving up in the draft for Blair or one of the 47 point guard prospects worth sacrificing the assets to woo one of the aforementioned players?

“I think it’s time to declare Hansbrough the big winner of the 2009 NBA draft combine.

He basically measured the same size as Kevin Love, Drew Gooden, Paul Millsap and David Lee.

His vertical-jump numbers weren’t terrible, either. At 34 inches, he matches up with the combine scores of Emeka Okafor, LaMarcus Aldridge and Nene. And better than Chris Bosh.

His no-step vertical was a little more troubling at just 27½ inches, but that equaled or bettered Carlos Boozer, Aldridge and Charlie Villanueva.”

“I think we have to re-evaluate him,” one lottery-team GM told me. “You get used to seeing a guy through a certain set of glasses. This forces you to rethink and ask yourself whether you misjudged him. I think if you need a big, you have to consider him.”

So for any of you who had jumped on the Hansbrough to Portland bandwagon with me, it’s time we just go home because he gone. But there is something of a silver lining. Here’s what Ford had to say about DeJuan Blair:

“However, the news became much grimmer for Blair when the results of the medical testing came back. Multiple NBA teams are saying Blair’s knees have been red-flagged.”

“Whether the concern ends up being a small or large factor in Blair’s draft stock, it’s a shame when you consider the momentum he has had since the season ended. With so few bigs in the draft, he was looking at being a potential late lottery pick. That now seems less likely. Although being red-flagged isn’t necessarily a death knell to your draft stock (remember all the concerns about Greg Oden two years ago), it could deter a team in the lottery from taking the risk.”

In our mock draft we have Blair at #11 to the Nets. Could he fall to Portland? Would you still want him and his possible bum knees? A lot of speculating from my end but it’s the off-season, why not have a little fun with it?

Discuss.

• Blake Griffin. Wait.
• Thabeet. Crap.
• Jordan Hill. Damnit.

There is a better chance of me marrying Maria Sharapova and divorcing her for Carrie Underwood and then cheating on her with Megan Fox than Portland has of getting Blake Griffin. Ditto for Thabeet and Hill but you can use a slightly less exaggerated example. I really wish we could get Jordan Hill though, he would fit right in with what Portland needs at the backup 4. Very hard worker, rebounds, can pass, can score….I wish we could get him.

• DeJuan Blair (Pittsburgh): Now this is the guy that Blazer fans want and I can’t really blame them one bit. Blair is just a monster of a man. No other way to say it, he’s just an absolute beast. And the word beast describes exactly what Portland needs at the power forward spot. Just a physical and beasty rebounder and Blair is definitely all of that. I don’t want to listen to the “undersized” thing because the Milsap’s, Landry’s and Maxiell (well Maxiell pre this year) of the world have proven otherwise. Blair’s stock seems to be on the rise so the chances of him falling to #24 are looking slimmer than the chances of the WNBA….nah not going to pick on them today. Just know the chances are small. Sidenote, I do have one major problem with Blair. Here it is. Every single time I look at hime I see Tractor Traylor and it scares the living hell out of me. I don’t want any part of Tractor Traylor part 2. None. At. All.
• BJ Mullens (Ohio State): I put him on the list because of how highly he’s been rated on various draft boards. He’s a center, he’s 7-1 and athletic…but he’s young and going to be a project. If Portland is going to draft a big man they need one who can have an impact now not in a few years from now. And if they are going to go with a project, I assume they’ll take a Euro that they can stash for a few years. Mullens also more than likely won’t be available at #24, so wave bye bye if you wanted another Ohio State big man.
• Tyler Hansbrough (UNC): And it’s time to open up a can of worms here ladies and gentlemen. Every mock draft in the universe (except for this one) has Tyler Hansbrough going to the Jazz. Because, um, can I say this…well….I’m going to anyways, because he’s a hard working white guy which turns him into the prototypical forward for Utah (Ooooh no he didn’t, yes he did). Anyways, you might wanna kill me for this but I like Tyler Hansbrough’s game. Say what you want about him not being a pro, but he’s got the tools to contribute in the L. Why does no one want Hansbrough in Portland? He’s a bulldog in the paint, he brings energy, he’ll battle and always works his tail off. I’m not seeing what’s not to like here. I smell your undersized and under-athletic comment, but he’ll be playing a limited role. And the one thing I know he can do is be a role player. You’re telling me you wouldn’t take 10-12 minutes of Hansbrough a game? He can’t give a little bit of what Chuck Hayes or Luis Scola? Come on. I would have rather had him out there than Frye, Shavlik or Love Muffin Ruffin during the Rockets series. At the very least he has to intrigue you. Also could you imagine Hansbrough’s crazy eyes out there with Blake and Big Joel? Whose messing with those guys? Exactly.
• Jeff Pendergraph (Arizona State): You could say this is a ‘reach’ and I’d agree to an extent. No need to even think about taking him at #24 when you can get him in the second round. But I think this guy is a sleeper. You don’t shoot 66% from the field if you’re an absolute bum. Even if the majority of your shots were dunks or within 15 feet but still. Impressive. At first glance you might look and see flashes of Channing Frye and run far, far away. But Pendergraph likes to operate in the low post, can run the floor really well and plays with great energy and passion. I wouldn’t mind stealing him at the right time.
• Jon Brockman (Washington): You can tell me all the reasons why Brockman won’t be able to succeed in the NBA and I’d more than likely put my hand on my chin and nod at every point you make. The one thing you can’t tell me about Jon Brockman? That he’s not a tank….because he absolutely, positively is. His toughness, hustle, physical play and ability to rebound gets him put on this list. Also helping him is he fact that undersized power forwards are all the rage right now. That being said, he’s got some pretty nice-sized limitations. How’s he going to finish? I’m not sure he is going to be able to beast his way to the bucket like he did in college. And that whole size and athleticism thing too. No way you take Brockman at #24. Late second round steal status? Absolutely. I don’t know about you all but I love Brockman’s game.
• Gani Lawal (Georgia Tech): I’ve heard his name get tossed around in a few mock drafts for Portland. I don’t know a lot about him at all. Read Casey Holdahl’s thoughts. I hate to talk about him because I don’t know that much, but from everything I have read, I’m just not feeling it. He’s long and athletic, works hard, rebounds..but he’s raw and would be getting drafted based on potential, upside and all the other words that end up in an NBA Draft drinking game. He’s not someone who can contribute to this team right now in a significant way so what’s the point? Read his DraftExpress profile and see how excited you get.

And that’s literally about it. Any of the players in this draft who could help the Blazers at the backup 4 will be gone by #24. Jordan Hill and Blair are #1 and #2 but they are lottery. Hansbrough to me smells like a nice pick but he’s about as popular as Oscar the Grouch. Seriously no one likes him and I fully expect for someone to call me a dumb-dumb for even suggesting it. Then you either have projects with upside who won’t be able to contribute immediately or intriguing prospects (Pendergraph, Brockman) who are guys you can snag in the second round. A couple names floated in my head (Heytvelt from Gonzaga or Taj Gibson from USC) but they smell more like Channing Frye than what we really need. Looking at the draft, it’s going to be tough or it to be the answer to Portland’s power-forward issues just because of how thin it is.  So I ask the question…would you trade up to get a Jordan Hill or DeJuan Blair? And really that question asks an even bigger question, which Ben from Blazer’s Edge brought up…if you trade up do you draft a PG?