The Toronto Star (Doug Smith) reports: To the mercenary professional athletes who ply their trades here, Toronto’s cozy ethnic neighbourhoods may as well be on Mars and “living” in the city means going from condo to arena to airport to an off-season home. To the newest Raptor, the city’s charm is the attraction. Hedo Turkoglu and his wife, Banu, who grew up high school sweethearts in their native Istanbul, should arrive here this week to officially sign a five-year contract worth about $53 million (U.S.) and – in a departure from the norm – it wasn’t the money that attracted them. It was the city and what it had to offer… The Portland Trail Blazers originally thought they were going to get Turkoglu on a five-year, $50 million contract, but the couple reconsidered the offer overnight Thursday and turned it down late Friday.
