The Blazers and the agent for Knicks forward David Lee held July 4 talks following Hedo Turkoglu’s stunning rejection of Portland’s contract offer Friday.
The Blazers have interest in Lee, but still are not prepared to sign Lee, a restricted free agent, to an offer sheet, fearful that the Knicks will match a proposal that would start at $9 million a year. That’s great news for Knicks president Donnie Walsh.
The Blazers don’t want to be tied up for 10 days as they wait for the Knicks to decide whether to match, according to agent Mark Bartelstein.
“If he was unrestricted, he would’ve been signed July 1,” Bartelstein said.
Portland is prepared to wait and pursue other free agents. One report mentioned point guard Andre Miller. After Turkoglu backed out of the Portand deal, the Blazers are $9 million under the salary cap and one option they have considered is making a trade to clear more cap space. Bartelstein said he will continue to talk to Portland, as well as other clubs over the cap, in sign-and-trade scenarios. However, the Knicks would have to agree to a sign-and-trade and are sitting pretty if Portland doesn’t jump in.
Turkoglu, who opted out of his Orlando contract last week when the team acquired Vince Carter from the Nets, will join the Raptors after spurning the Blazers.
The 6-foot-10 forward helped Orlando to the NBA finals last season. He was due $7.3 million next season, the final year of his $36 million, 6-year deal with Orlando. He averaged 16.8 points and 5.3 rebounds last season.