8:38pm: Clippers coach Doc Rivers acknowledged that the club is interested in signing Hedo Turkoglu and said tonight’s signing of Darius Morris doesn’t affect their pursuit, tweets Markazi.
2:02pm: The Clippers have interest in Turkoglu, but haven’t had him in for a workout yet, tweets ESPN.com’s Arash Markazi. Based on Baumann’s earlier tweet, it sounds as if that could happen later today.
1:37pm: Hedo Turkoglu has cleared waivers, meaning he’s free to sign with any NBA team, and it looks like he hasn’t wasted much time trying to find a new home. According to David Baumann of 740 The Game in Orlando, Turkoglu hopes to land with a contender, and will work out for the Clippers today (Twitter links).
Turkoglu, 34, hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since February 2013, having reached an agreement with the Magic not to join the squad this season despite being under contract. We heard last week that the veteran forward still “badly” wanted the chance to earn NBA minutes, and the Magic afforded him that opportunity when they released him on Friday.
As for the Clippers, they’re expected to be without star point guard Chris Paul for the next several weeks. While Turkoglu isn’t a guard, he’s capable of running an offense as a point forward, which could interest the Clips. The club released Maalik Wayns yesterday, so there’s an open roster spot to add a player on a 10-day contract or a rest-of-season deal.
It’s not clear yet how many teams will be in the mix for Turkolgu, but the former first-round pick could also draw interest from another L.A. team — a weekend report indicated the Lakers might consider adding Turkoglu.
The Clippers just lost Chris Paul for several weeks, and we are getting Hedo Turkoglu, a 34-year-old forward who has not played for 11 months? I don’t see the logic here. Unless Doc Rivers will suit up.