NBA free agency rumors: Evan Turner to sign with Portland Trail Blazers

Free agent wing Evan Turner will reportedly leave the Boston Celtics and sign with the Portland Trail Blazers on a four-year deal worth $70 million.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical of Yahoo! Sports, “free agent forward Evan Turner has reached agreement on a four-year, $70 million deal with Portland [Trail Blazers].”

This signing comes a bit out of left field as many thought that the Trail Blazers would be ultra-aggressive in solidifying their front court positions for a deeper Western Conference Playoffs push. The Trail Blazers already have two strong back court players in point guard Damian Lillard and shooting guard C.J. McCollum.

Portland had pushed hard at trying to court former Dallas Mavericks swingman Chandler Parsons, who was supposedly the first player the Trail Blazers organization met with in 2016 NBA free agency. While Parsons wanted to be a team’s first choice in free agency, it seems increasingly likely that he will end up signing with the Memphis Grizzlies to start at the three for new head coach David Fizdale.

Being that Portland wanted to get another strong offensive player to play alongside Lillard and McCollum in some capacity, Turner might be a capable sixth man for the Trail Blazers, but his contract of four years and $57 million may not be great later down the road.

Turner had a good year in 2015-16 coming off the bench for the Boston Celtics. Being that Portland is going to have to lock up McCollum soon in unrestricted free agency, this signing might limit what the Trail Blazers can do in the next offseason or two.

However, given how hard it has been historically for Portland to land top-tier free agents, it makes sense that the Trail Blazers organization had to overspend to get a solid rotational player that will certainly play a huge part in their success in 2016-17.

For more NBA free agency news, please check out our NBA free agency category page.