By Marc Stein and Chris Sheridan
ESPN.com
Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan is flying to Orlando to have a
Wednesday night dinner with the Blazers' top free-agent target, Hedo Turkoglu.
Turkoglu's agent, Lon Babby, said Wednesday that Turkoglu will then travel to
Oregon for a Thursday tour of the Blazers' facilities and meetings with
Portland general manager Kevin Pritchard and assistant GM Tom Penn.
With the Blazers projected to have $8 million to $9 million in salary-cap
space this summer -- with firm figures not known until the league announces
next season's salary cap on July 8 -- and the Orlando Magic lacking the
financial flexibility to re-sign Turkoglu after trading for Vince Carter last
week, Turkoglu is widely expected to land with the Blazers as the first
marquee free-agent signing of Pritchard's reign.
Teams and free agents were permitted to strike verbal agreements on new deals
as of 12:01 a.m. ET Wednesday but new contracts cannot be signed until the
cap figure is announced and the NBA's moratorium on signings is lifted next
week.
Babby said he had received calls from at least four teams, some with cap
space and some without, although the Detroit Pistons -- with more cap space
than any other team looking to make a free-agent splash this summer -- were
not one of them.
The Toronto Raptors were known to be one of the teams with enough cap space
available to make Turkoglu a respectable offer, but the Raptors would have to
renounce their rights to Shawn Marion and Anthony Parker in order to
facillitate such a move.
Turkoglu is believed to be seeking a five-year contract in tbe neighborhood
of $50 million, and he turned down a four-year offer from Orlando, worth
approximately $36 million, before the Magic pulled the trigger on the Carter
trade.
Babby said he had not heard from the Magic within the first 12 hours of the
free-agency period.
"But I don't think that door is closed, although everyone realizes it has
gotten harder to do something there," Babby said. "I haven't talked to
[Orlando GM] Otis Smith since the process started, but I will."
The Blazers were the first team to express interest in Turkoglu. The Portland
Oregonian newspaper reported that Pritchard first made his Turkoglu plans
known to Blazers cornerstones Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, who are both
eligible for contract extensions this offseason.
Turkoglu, 30, averaged 16.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists last season
in helping Orlando reach the NBA Finals for just the second time in franchise
history. He averaged 15.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 24 playoff
games, shooting 42.7 percent from the field and 38.6 percent from 3-point
range, and won NBA Most Improved Player honors in 2007-08 after averaging
19.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists for the Magic.
"I'm excited for him," Babby said Wednesday regarding the Blazers' aggressive
pursuit of Turkoglu. "They've communicated their interest and we'll see where
it goes from here."
Portland is one of just five teams this summer projected to be sufficiently
under the salary cap to sign free agents outright, along with Detroit,
Memphis, Oklahoma City and Sacramento.
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http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4299841
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