Turkish center Okur traded to Trail Blazers

NEW JERSEY

Mehmet Okur. AFP Photo

The New Jersey Nets’ Turkish center Mehmet Okur was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers in a deadline deal late March 15.

The Nets acquired forward Gerald Wallace from the Trail Blazers in exchange for center Okur, small forward Shawne Williams and New Jersey’s protected 2012 first-round pick, the Nets announced.
Orlando Magic’s Turkish forward Hidayet Türkoğlu said he was “sorry for my brother Memo.”

“This is the worst side of our jobs, you don’t know where you will wake up in the morning,” Türkoğlu wrote on his Twitter page.

“The trade stress is finally over,” Türkoğlu also wrote. “I feel sorry for Memo, he had to face this twice this year.”

Second trade of season

Okur was traded to the Nets only days before the start of the season as the Nets sent a future second-round pick to Utah. The Turkish center, whose contract will expire at the end of the season, has not played for the Nets since Jan. 25 because of back problems and averaged a mere 7.6 points in 17 games this season. He is currently out with injury indefinitely.

The move was part of a massive overhaul for the Blazers that sit in 12th place in the Western Conference with 20 wins and 23 losses. They released former No. 1 overall draft pick Greg Oden, traded center Marcus Camby to the Houston Rockets and also fired coach Nate McMillan and replaced him on an interim basis with assistant Caleb Kanales.

“Hard to see coach Nate go,” All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge tweeted. “He was my coach since day one and I’ve grown a lot under his coaching.”

Also in the NBA, the Los Angled Lakers got younger at point guard, acquiring Ramon Sessions from Cleveland and sending veteran Derek Fisher to Houston.