Lowe: Evan Turner was “Giddy” about Contract Amount

Earlier today, ESPN’s Zach Lowe published an article critical of the defensive approach of the Portland Trail Blazers. You can read the original article here and a briefer summary of the quotes about defense here. In the midst of the analysis, Lowe added this tidbit about the Blazers signing Evan Turner to a 4-year, $70 million contract over the summer:

Turner will be the scapegoat if Portland, now carrying the league's third-highest payroll, ends up trapped in the middle. (He was almost as stunned as you by Portland's mega-offer, by the way, which turned out to be for four years and $70 million. Turner's agent made him promise not to tell anyone about the proposal until he signed it. Turner was too giddy, though. He hung up with his agent, immediately called Andre Iguodala, still a close friend and mentor, and blurted out, "Yo, Dre! They offered this!" Turner recalled, laughing. Iguodala told him to take the deal right away.)

The statement seems to jive with a July report from the Boston Globe describing Turner guessing at his own value.

The former Celtics guard said the Blazers also met with free agent forward Chandler Parsons, and the team indicated that if that overture did not work out, Turner would become their primary focus.

“They said, ‘We’ll give [Parsons] until 6 a.m., and if he doesn’t say yes, we want you for sure,’ ” Turner told the Globe Friday. “I didn’t know how much I was going to make. It was so random. I could make $12 million a year or I could make $18 million.”

Turner has struggled to acclimate to his new environs, posting 8.1 ppg on a career-low 39% shooting clip from the field, 24% from the three-point arc.