Schmitz: Rashard Lewis Wants the Orlando Magic to Re-Sign Hedo Turkoglu Next Summer

Orlando Magic forward Rashard Lewis, right, told The Orlando Sentinel he wants his team to re-sign forward Hedo Turkoglu when he opts out of his contract next summer. Now if only center Dwight Howard, left, would say something similar...

File photo by Brian Kersey, the Associated Press

Interesting late-night blog post from Brian Schmitz, who reports that Rashard Lewis wants the Orlando Magic to re-sign Hedo Turkoglu when he opts out of his contract next summer.

"Hopefully, we get Turk back. That's very important. We need him," Lewis told the Sentinel. "We got a group of guys who can grow together for a while. Hopefully, we can go for a couple of championships.

"It's important to try to get Turk back into the organization so we can have that main core here for the next five or six years and that gives you the chance to compete for more than just one year."

The Magic will have their work cut out for them when it comes to finding room on the payroll for Turkoglu, but the fact that Lewis, their highest-paid player, wants him to come back might add extra motivation for them to do so. If Dwight Howard makes a similar statement about Turk's importance, then you can bet Magic GM Otis Smith would double his efforts to clear cap space; keeping the Magic's franchise center happy is likely near the top of his priority list.