The Orlando Magic, already in serious trade talks with the Washington Wizards about acquiring Gilbert Arenas, are close to pulling off a separate trade with the Phoenix Suns, according to league sources.

The proposed trade, which one source gave a "90 percent" chance of happening, would return former Magic star Hedo Turkoglu, along with Jason Richardson, to Orlando in exchange for Vince Carter and Marcin Gortat.

The deal is likely to be completed within the next 24 hours, according to the sources.

"It's safe to say that it's imminent," one source said. "It's very close. There's always a chance it could fall apart, but it's 90 percent done."

The deal is believed to involve either a few extra players or draft picks, sources said.

Orlando, losers of five of its last six games, is also seriously pursuing Arenas. Sources said that deal will likely send Rashard Lewis to Washington for Arenas and a Wizards big man to replace Gortat. It could go down near the same time as the deal with Phoenix.

Magic president Otis Smith told The Associated Press on Saturday that he has had serious talks this week with the Wizards about acquiring Arenas.

Smith said he would rate the aggressiveness of the talks at an "eight out of 10" but that "nothing is imminent." He would not talk specifics of the potential deal with The AP.

The Magic have plenty of lucrative pieces to package in a trade, notably Carter's expiring contract. Lewis, who has 2½ years remaining on a $118 million, six-year deal, would line up with Arenas' backloaded contract -- which still has about $60 million left.

Arenas was at Washington's morning shootaround but did not speak to reporters.

"Have we had conversations with a number of teams regarding guys on our roster? Of course we have," Smith said. "Do we like losing five of six? Of course not. Yeah, there's conversations with Washington regarding Gilbert Arenas."

The latest round of talks, first reported by Yahoo! Sports, come as no surprise.

Smith has been a close friend and mentor to the troubled guard going back to their days together at Golden State, when Smith was in the front-office and Arenas was a young player. Smith has said in the past that Arenas' troubles, which included a 50-game suspension last season for bringing a gun into the Wizards' locker room and faking an injury to sit out a preseason game this year, are not a concern.

"The length of his contract and health probably have been more of my concerns," Smith said. "With the length of his contract, you're always concerned about taking on more, of course. That's always been one of my concerns. I know a little bit more detail about Gilbert off the court and who he is as a person.

"He's probably similar to the guys we have in the locker room right now. I would say that sometimes good people make dumb decisions, and he's one of those guys."

Arenas, a three-time All Star, has had several knee problems that limited him to 47 games over the previous three seasons. But while playing alongside -- and often behind -- No. 1 overall pick John Wall this season, Arenas has showed flashes of his old self.

He has averaged 17.3 points and 5.6 assists per game this season, including a season-high 31 points in a loss against the Magic on Nov. 27. The Magic have made strong pushes to acquire Denver's Carmelo Anthony and New Orleans' Chris Paul, but with those talks showing little progress, they might be forced to make another move.

Orlando has lost five of its last six games, including a frustrating 1-3 West Coast trip, falling from first to fourth in the Eastern Conference. The Magic were set to host Philadelphia on Saturday night, and Washington was hosting Miami.

"I circled the West Coast trip on our schedule a long time ago," Smith said. "The West Coast trip, to me, was going to decide whether or not we're going to either fix our woes or continue down the same path. I don't think we've played particularly well leading up to the West Coast trip. So, we were on the West Coast trip and some of our woes continued, so you start to explore opportunities that are out there."

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-arenastradetalks121810

Magic nearing deal for Arenas

As prelude to a trade for Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas(notes), the Orlando Magic are nearing completion on a multiplayer deal that would send Vince Carter(notes) and Marcin Gortat(notes) to the Phoenix Suns for Hedo Turkoglu(notes) and Jason Richardson(notes), sources told Yahoo! Sports.

The Magic would then send forward Rashard Lewis(notes) to the Wizards as the centerpiece of a deal for Arenas, sources said.

Sources said the Magic will send Carter, Gortat, guard Mickael Pietrus(notes), a first-round pick and $3 million for Richardson, Turkoglu and forward Earl Clark(notes).

The Wizards’ pursuit of Arenas has escalated in recent days, and Yahoo! Sports reported Friday the teams were working toward a deal.

Arenas has privately told people for days that he believes a deal will soon send him to Orlando, where he’ll be reunited with Magic general manager Otis Smith, a friend and mentor from Arenas’ days with the Golden State Warriors. Sources said Orlando has escalated its pursuit of a deal in recent days. After losing five of their past six games, the Magic have shown more urgency to find a perimeter scorer who can help them stay a viable contender in the Eastern Conference.

Arenas has four years and $60 million left on his Wizards deal. Following his 50-game suspension for bringing guns into the Wizards locker room last season, Arenas became further expendable after Washington drafted No. 1 overall pick John Wall(notes)(notes).

Lewis has three years and $66.5 million left on his contract, including this season.

AnubisADL wrote:

martin wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:Bad news for the Heat and Boston.

Now all Orlando needs to do is dump Nelson and they should be solid.

Nelson that bad for them? Don't watch Orlando

I think he is overrated. He is a good PG but is constantly injured. A backcourt of Arenas and Nelson is going to get destroyed by the Lakers.

Im assuming Orlando moves Turkeyglue back to SG where he was most effective. They then play Arenas off the ball at PG so he can rain shots down on teams. So Turkeyglue would be playing that PG like role. This would give Orlando superior back court size.

Well, I guess with Jason Richardson in the PHO deal, that's a different backcourt.

martin wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:Bad news for the Heat and Boston.

Now all Orlando needs to do is dump Nelson and they should be solid.

Nelson that bad for them? Don't watch Orlando

Deal is basically a wash and a lateral move to please Howard, who was unhappy with a stale team that was floundering.

Childs2Dudley wrote:I don't agree that they got that much better.

Deal is basically a wash and a lateral move to please Howard, who was unhappy with a stale team that was floundering.

I dunno. Arenas is cold blooded. Vince Carter is soft as hell.

earthmansurfer wrote:So, this basically means that Orlando is out of the Melo sweepstakes!
Just us, jersey and Chicago. He will be here in the next 2 weeks.

If Dallas falters at all - like Orlando has gone stale recently - don't count them out.