Magic GM doesn’t think Turkoglu was worth $50 M
I think we can file this one under “obvious,” since the Magic didn’t re-sign Turkoglu, but it’s interesting nonetheless…
In a conversation with Blazers’ general manager Kevin Pritchard, [Magic GM Otis] Smith told Pritchard that he had “caught a break” with Turkoglu signing elsewhere and made it clear the Blazers “weren’t missing out on anything,” sources tell RealGM’s Alex Kennedy.
Smith didn’t feel that Turkoglu was worth the five-year, $50 million Portland was ready to spend.
Turkoglu is 30. If anyone thinks that he’s going to be worth $11-$12 million when he’s 34 or 35 and at the back end of this contract, I’d like to have some of what they’re smoking. But both the Blazers and the Raptors knew that in order to get Turkoglu to agree to a deal, it had to be a long-term contract.
Smith didn’t say this publicly, so I’m not going to blast him for throwing a former player under the bus. But it still seems odd that he’d be badmouthing Turkoglu — one of the main reasons the Magic made an appearance in the Finals — to other GMs around the league. When Jameer Nelson went down, Turkoglu took over the ballhandling duties and acted as a point forward. He ran countless pick and rolls with Dwight Howard, dished out a bunch of assists and hit several huge shots. Simply stated, Orlando wouldn’t have made it to the Finals without him.
Is he worth $10 million a year heading into his thirties? Probably not. But he’ll probably earn his keep for the first few years of that contract, and that’s all the Raptors are worried about right now.
As a Cavs fan, I’m thrilled that the Magic let him go.
I agree Turkoglu may not be worth all that money,but for Otis to call Turkoglu out like that, that’s not right. After all Turkoglu did for the magic, i’m surprised he said that. One thing i’m sure we can all agree on is that turkoglu was a BIG reason why they made it to the finals. But w.e one’s loss is one’s gain! GO RAPS!
otis should f*** off, turkoglu is worth every penny!
turk was one of the main reasons why the magic were successful the past 2 years and if otis won’t appreciate all the hard work he did then he really needs to f*** off!!
Isnt this the same guy who is overpaying Rashard “Roid” Lewis? I thought so.
He definitely overpaid, but considering that Lewis was a key in their series win over the Cavs, I’d say it paid off.
This story and responses are a bit ridiculous. And the propagation of the story by various sites smells of low standard journalism at best. I have yet to see if anyone has even approached either Smith or Pritchard to confirm the comment. Total reliance and reaction then, on a single unidentified “source”.
Thanks for the lecture, Bendit. Access to Smith and Pritchard is extremely limited, at best. Typically, parties will respond when the rumor spreads far enough so if we ignore every one-source story, we’d never get a comment.
Besides, what would make anyone believe that Smith does think that Turkoglu is worth $50 million? He had an opportunity to sign him for that price and chose not to. Of course he doesn’t think Turkoglu is worth it.