The Trail Blazers have a handshake agreement in place to bring a franchise center to Portland. Now the waiting begins.

In an aggressive and bold move that would reshape the franchise, the Blazers on Sunday verbally agreed to a multiyear contract with restricted free agent

, widely considered the premier center on the market.

The deal is believed to be a maximum offer, which SI.com first reported at four years and $58 million, and would make Hibbert the highest-paid player on the Blazers' roster. General manager

and team president Larry Miller traveled to Washington, D.C., to woo Hibbert shortly after free agency opened at 9:01 p.m. Saturday, and the two convinced the sought-after big man to leave the Indiana Pacers for the Northwest.

Olshey refused to discuss specifics of the meeting or the deal Sunday, but acknowledged that an agreement was forthcoming.

"We intend to enter into an offer sheet once the moratorium period ends," Olshey told The Oregonian in an email.

But Sunday's news features a caveat. Hibbert is a restricted free agent, meaning the Pacers can match the Blazers' offer and retain him. And while free agency negotiations opened Saturday night, players cannot officially sign offer sheets until the NBA free agency moratorium ends on July11. The Pacers will then have 72hours to match the Blazers' offer.

So July 14 is the earliest the Blazers will learn if they've signed their franchise center.

It's unclear what the Pacers' intentions are. The Indianapolis Star reported that the team did not offer Hibbert a maximum contract on Sunday and started investigating potential Plan Bs, reaching out to restricted free-agent center Omer Asik before he reportedly agreed to sign with the Houston Rockets.

If the Pacers pass on Hibbert, it could be a coup for Olshey in his first free-agent move as Portland's GM. Hibbert, at 7-foot-2 and 260 pounds, is one of the NBA's few true dominant big men and appears to be on the upswing of his career.

He averaged 12.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game, shot 50 percent from the field and collected the fourth-most blocks (128) in the NBA last season. Hibbert, 25, has showed marked improvement throughout his career -- increasing his averages in scoring, rebounding and blocks during each of his four NBA seasons -- and was named to his first All-Star game in 2012.

Hibbert was vital to the Pacers' run to the semifinals of the Eastern Conference playoffs, averaging 11.7points, 11.2rebounds and 3.1blocks, while recording double-digit rebounding performances in eight of 11 postseason games. In Game 3 of the semifinals, Hibbert had perhaps the most memorable game of his career: 19points, a career-high 18rebounds and five blocks in a win over the eventual-champion Miami Heat.

The monster performance revealed that Hibbert has game-changing potential.

What's more, Hibbert -- who has missed only three games over the last three seasons -- has proven to be durable. For an injury-riddled Portland franchise that winced through the Greg Oden era, a durable center would be a welcome addition.

Also, pairing Hibbert with power forward LaMarcus Aldridge would give the Blazers a big, formidable frontcourt featuring two All-Stars.

On the dawn of free agency, Olshey pledged to seek "impact free agents" that "move the needle" and he didn't disappoint.

But Sunday was not entirely positive for the Blazers. While they were orchestrating the agreement with Hibbert, Nicolas Batum's agent, Bouna Ndiaye, was listening to sales pitches from potential suitors.

A league source told The Oregonian before the start of free agency that Minnesota, Cleveland and Toronto were likely to pursue Batum most aggressively, and the Timberwolves, according to multiple published reports, showed the most early interest.

In the Twin Cities, the Star Tribune reported Sunday that Batum was scheduled to fly to Minneapolis in the evening to meet with Timberwolves' representatives face to face. The Blazers small forward, who is a restricted free agent, could fetch a multiyear deal worth more than $40 million.

However, if Batum does sign an offer sheet from another team, the Blazers -- like the Pacers with Hibbert -- could retain Batum by matching the offer.

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