While most updates this time of year are about non-rostered players who will be with teams for camp, there's one player currently on a roster who won't be with his team in October. The Magic and Hedo Turkoglu have agreed to have the veteran small forward sit out of camp while both sides work toward a buyout agreement, reports Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. The arrangement effectively ends Turkoglu's tenure with the Magic, though he technically remains on the roster, as Robbins clarifies via Twitter.
"Our organization has a great deal of respect for Hedo and the contributions he’s made to the team over the years," Magic GM Rob Hennigan said. "We’ve made an organizational decision to move in a different direction. During the pendency of our buyout negotiations, we’ve mutually agreed to have Hedo remain with his family while we work toward an agreement."
Turkoglu's contract calls for him to earn $12MM this season, but a few years ago he agreed to reduce the guaranteed amount on this season to just $6MM. The Jim Tanner client may wind up accepting even less than that to get out of the contract early and take an offer reportedly worth about $3.4MM from Fenerbahce Ulker in his native Turkey.
The Magic have made it clear for a while that they don't see Turkoglu as part of their future, and Turkoglu said in the spring that he'd be surprised if he played for the team in 2013/14. The Magic have yet to waive Turkoglu in part because they hope to find a team willing to trade for him, Robbins writes.
Turkoglu, 35, has spent seven and a half seasons with the Magic over two separate stints. He played in only 11 games last season because of injury and a 10-game suspension that stemmed from a positive test for methenolone.
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