Jul 04, 2009 8:54 AM EST

With Hedo Turkoglu backing out of an agreement, Portland could very well turn their attention towards David Lee.

"We had been talking, but we'll talk now," Lee's agent Mark Bartelstein told The New York Post.

Turkoglu and the Trail Blazers had agreed to terms on a deal that would pay the forward $10 million annually, which is exactly the number Lee is believed to be coveting on the market.

With Turkoglu backing out, Portland has $10 million in cap space that can be used on Lee, who is a restricted free agent.

In addition, Bartelstein claims he's talked to nearly 15 teams that have proposed sign-and-trade deals with the Knicks for Lee.

I figured Portland was going to go into the deep end with Lee once they lost out on Hedo. If they offer 5/50, does Walsh risk matching? What are the rules with matching, do you just have to match $1 more than what the other team offered?

[Edited by - nyk4ever on 07-04-2009 10:47 AM]

you can match the exact amount. david's out the dollar.

seems portland is lookig for a scoring forward. Lee is not the same as Hedo.

Why would they use the same money?

Lee makes sense if the Blazers are giving up on Oden... which I would. They could turn around and trade Oden to some dumb GM for a scoring wing while he still has "potential" and before it all just magically disappears a la Curry

In addition, Bartelstein claims he's talked to nearly 15 teams that have proposed sign-and-trade deals with the Knicks for Lee.

awesome... DW always gets great value in trades. This is our best case scenario. Maybe a pick, expiring contract and lost cost prospect

how about Lee for Rudy Fernandez and a first?

Posted by nyk4ever:

Posted by SupremeCommander:

how about Lee for Rudy Fernandez and a first?

THat's my thinking. I'll gladly accept that deal.

That would be an awesome steal for NYK, I doubt it though... With Turkey not signing, they are gonna need a perimeter player at the sf/sg slot. I think its more likely, that they trade Travis Outlaw or Niccolas Batum, if any small forward and a 1st rd'er.

Posted by JayNYC:

Posted by nyk4ever:

Posted by SupremeCommander:

how about Lee for Rudy Fernandez and a first?

THat's my thinking. I'll gladly accept that deal.

That would be an awesome steal for NYK, I doubt it though... With Turkey not signing, they are gonna need a perimeter player at the sf/sg slot. I think its more likely, that they trade Travis Outlaw or Niccolas Batum, if any small forward and a 1st rd'er.

While I agree with you, both Outlaw and Batum are both SG/SF as well. Batum has no value to me, I would take Outlaw, but I prefer Rudy and he's made it known that he's not happy there now either since they were trying to sign Turkey.

Posted by nyk4ever:


While I agree with you, both Outlaw and Batum are both SG/SF as well. Batum has no value to me, I would take Outlaw, but I prefer Rudy and he's made it known that he's not happy there now either since they were trying to sign Turkey.

Its kind of hard to imagine "most NBA players" not havin success in MDA's system. As far as value, I think Batum can really thrive as a NY Knick. Defensive minded player, that has a poor man Scottie Pippen's feel to his game. Long Body, raw offensively but improving... makes good decisions with the ball. I dunno, sounds like a fit to me. Outlaw is probably the same guy, just more athletic and a more consistent jumper.

Rudy F is nice! Its been reported that he'd be unhappy with the acquisition of Hedo primarily because he felt it would reduce his P.T.; With Hedo going to T-Dot that is no longer an issue. Its possible, that Rudy may be angry about not receiving an extention on his contract but again, I doubt that Portland would trade him because of this.

Lastly, its my belief that Donnie Walsh does not trade away Lee unless he gets back an efficient point guard, or at least one with potential; along with a jump shooting wing man and/or a pick.

Posted by JayNYC:

Posted by nyk4ever:


While I agree with you, both Outlaw and Batum are both SG/SF as well. Batum has no value to me, I would take Outlaw, but I prefer Rudy and he's made it known that he's not happy there now either since they were trying to sign Turkey.

Its kind of hard to imagine "most NBA players" not havin success in MDA's system. As far as value, I think Batum can really thrive as a NY Knick. Defensive minded player, that has a poor man Scottie Pippen's feel to his game. Long Body, raw offensively but improving... makes good decisions with the ball. I dunno, sounds like a fit to me. Outlaw is probably the same guy, just more athletic and a more consistent jumper.

Rudy F is nice! Its been reported that he'd be unhappy with the acquisition of Hedo primarily because he felt it would reduce his P.T.; With Hedo going to T-Dot that is no longer an issue. Its possible, that Rudy may be angry about not receiving an extention on his contract but again, I doubt that Portland would trade him because of this.

Lastly, its my belief that Donnie Walsh does not trade away Lee unless he gets back an efficient point guard, or at least one with potential; along with a jump shooting wing man and/or a pick.

Batum has a greater upside than Outlaw, IMO. Batum, a #1 and someone else to even up the salaries in the trade might be be good enough for me. If Batum can play the #2 spot defensively (in terms of quickness) he would be a steal, and with guys like Chandler, Gallinari, Hill, Darko, and yes, Jeffries, we would have some superior length on this team.

Lee is not Hedo, though. He is not a point forward and does not have the complete game that Hedo has. Would Portland see Lee as being an exact replacement for the guy who just left them at the alter? I doubt it.

Posted by BRIGGS:

It's crazy how David Lee is being under rated. Maybe the basketball Gods will help the Knicks *get it* that they already have a really really good player here who did play hurt for 1/3 of the year.
Each yera his skills have improved and I can seem him becoming a 3-4 assist guy to go along with 16-17 points and 11-12 rebounds and mid 50% shooting. We should really think about this--unless I got a really FAIR swap or if someone just blew him away monetarily[isnt happening] the best result is he stays a Knick.
One thing that scares me about Dantoni is that he seems to wants to move too many guys away from the basket

I think everyone agrees that David Lee's stats are nice