Orlando Magic: Hedo Turkoglu Expected To Reach Buyout Agreement

After months of speculation, it appears the Orlando Magic are prepared to part ways with the oldest player on their roster.

The Magic are currently negotiating a buyout agreement with small forward Hedo Turkoglu, according to Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel.

The 34-year-old veteran has played eight seasons in Orlando and was a vital piece to the 2009 team led by Dwight Howard that made a run to the NBA Finals. Turkoglu was signed to a five-year, $52.8 million deal and then traded to the Toronto Raptors following the Finals and the Magic subsequently replaced him by trading for Vince Carter.

Turkoglu’s NBA career seems to be over. (Flickr.com photo by Keith Allison)

Turkoglu’s decision to leave the franchise is a move that will haunt him for the rest of his career. After just one season in Toronto, he was traded to the Phoenix Suns. He did not last long there either, as his play style was a bad fit because he was a guy who needed the ball in his hands to be effective. The Suns had Steve Nash to run the offense. It was obvious Turkoglu was in decline as well.

Turkoglu was traded back to Orlando in December 2010 in hopes of regaining his old form and along with the acquisition of Gilbert Arenas, the Magic were expecting to compete for a championship once again. That never happened though, as they were bounced out of the playoffs in the first round by the Atlanta Hawks due to the lack of a supporting cast around Howard.

In his days with the Magic, Turkoglu played point forward and at 6’10” he was a nightmare matchup for teams to guard when operating the pick-and-roll with Howard and passing to several shooters on the floor. He won the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award following the 2007-08 season.

For the past two seasons, Turkoglu has struggled to stay healthy. He played in 53 games in 2011-12 and due to a suspension for violating the anti-drug policy combined with a broken hand played in just 11 games last year. Quite simply, the Magic have no reason to keep him on the roster when only $6 million of his $12 million salary is fully guaranteed and the Magic are in rebuild mode.

What’s next for Turkoglu? Zach Harper over at CBS Sports has the scoop on Turkoglu’s potential deal to play with the Turkish team Fenerbahçe Ulker. That would be an ideal scenario since Turkoglu is from Turkey and this deal would allow him to return home to finish his professional basketball career.

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