Magic general manager Otis Smith has apparently continued his war of words with the team behind Hedo Turkoglu after claiming Portland had "caught a break' when they failed to come to an agreement with the Turkish swingman.
Turkoglu eventually signed a big free agent deal with the Raptors to go and play in Toronto after having appeared set to become a Trail Blazer, provoking the ire of their GM Kevin Pritchard when he opted to sign elsewhere.
Smith, according to RealGM.com, told Pritchard that Portland "weren't missing out on anything"; especially at the $50m the Raptors are paying him over the next five years, if he sees out the recently-signed deal.
Turkoglu spent the last five seasons, many of them very productively, in Orlando but was basketball betting suggests he never the favorite player in the locker room and Portland scribes were worried what effect he might have on chemistry in the Pacific Northwest as well.
Since Turkoglu's u-turn and signing with Toronto, the Blazers have signed Andre Miller to run the point, and to be honest his signing seems to be a much better fit, just as the deal Orlando gave to Vince Carter seems to benefit the Magic more than the defensively-challenged Turkoglu might have.
Indeed Miller's addition gives the Blazers the look of a playoff team again, and if as expected he supplants Steve Blake as the starter on the point, the backcourt with he and Brandon Roy could be one of the best in the West. You might even want to place a basketball bet on it.
The Magic will only see Portland twice this season, at home just before Christmas and then as part of a week-long road trip which encompasses games with Sacramento, Denver and the Lakers as well in the middle of January.
Of course the news that Rashard Lewis will miss the first 10 games of the season for his positive drug test makes Turkoglu's absence a little more costly, but it will most likely give Ryan Anderson the chance to show some of the skills he flashed at times with New Jersey last year.
