Archive for July, 2009

The Dallas Mavericks have reached an agreement with Magic backup Center Marcin Gortat. According to Mark Stein, he has pledged to sign an offer sheet with the Mavericks next week. The Magic could match, but Gortat is expected to sign a 5 year deal worth about $5.6 million annually. That’s a hefty price to pay for a backup. Rip City Project is reporting that Turkoglu is in Portland for a visit right now. They are extremely confident that they will sign Turkoglu. With Rasheed Wallace being chased by several teams and the Boston Celtics, behind lobbying from Kevin Garnett, seemingly [...]

The Knicks are pursuing Jason Kidd and Grant Hill according to Howard Beck. Grant Hill is a name that’s showing back up on the Magic’s radar as a potential backup at PG, SG, and SF. Hill spent 7 injury filled years with Orlando before bolting to try and win a title with Phoenix (Phoenix missed the playoffs last season while Orlando made the finals). There were rumors that Hill was going to be traded back to Orlando last season for G JJ Redick. We’ll have more on this later. Beck also mentions that the Lakers and Orlando are interested in [...]

Did we all give up the prospect of Hedo Turkoglu returning too soon? With the supposed $60 million offer from Toronto, the $50 million offer from Portland and the apparent rejection of a $35 million offer from Orlando, it appeared that there was absolutely no chance for the Magic to retain Hedo Turkoglu. That’s still probably true, but Magic fans can’t give up hope completely. There’s still a slight chance that Turkoglu will remain in Orlando even though the chance is very, very slim. Lakers SF Trevor Ariza is as good as gone from LA. The Lakers want to re-sign [...]

According to the Oregonian, the Toronto Raptors are preparing to offer Magic SF Hedo Turkoglu a 5 year deal worth $60 million. “However, in order for Toronto to clear enough money to sign Turkoglu to the five-year, $60 million deal, it would have to renounce the contracts of Shawn Marion, Anthony Parker, Carlos Delfino, Patrick O’Bryant and Quincy Douby. The team is leery of taking that path, having that same tactic backfire last season when it created room for the arrival of Jermaine O’Neal.” More power to you Turk. This is a ridiculous amount of money for Hedo. It also [...]

Ken Berger of CBSsports.com is reporting that the Portland Trail Blazers have offered Magic Forward Hedo Turkoglu a contract in the “$50-million range.” “While negotiations across the league were in the early stages, a person with knowledge of the discussions said the Blazers are trying to lure Turkoglu with a deal in the $50-million range. Contracts cannot be signed until July 7, when the annual moratorium on signing and trading players is lifted.” Toronto, Detroit, and Sacramento, along with the Orlando Magic, are expected to make plays for Turkoglu, but none are expected to offer this much money. Tony Dutt, [...]

The Orlando Sentinel has released the 2009 Orlando Magic summer league roster. 6 Maurice Ager G 6-2 220 New Jersey Nets/Michigan State 41 Lance Allred C 6-11 260 NBDL Idaho Stampede/Weber State 33 Ryan Anderson F 6-10 240 New Jersey Nets/California 3 Brian Chase G 5-10 170 Dynamo Moscow/Virginia Tech 21 Ronald Dupree F 6-7 209 NBDL Utah Flash/Louisiana State 10 Courtney Fells G 6-6 210 North Carolina State 2 Levance Fields G 5-10 190 Pittsburgh 23 C.J. Giles F 6-11 240 Smart Gilas Pilipinas (Philippines)/Oregon State 35 Richard Hendrix F 6-9 255 NBDL Dakota Wizards/Alabama 16 Steven Milosevic C [...]

As every day passes, it looks less and less likely that Hedo Turkoglu will ever play for the Orlando Magic again. In a previous blog, the thought of the Magic acquiring Brandon Bass and how he would be a very good fit with Orlando Magic was discussed. This would be a great pickup for the Magic and he would indeed be a very good fit, but I’m not sure that he would be the best fit. In fact, the best fit for the Magic could be a player who has been a thorn in the side of Magic – Detroit [...]