Kevin Pritchard — is everyone on board with what Hedo?
This should be a very exciting time for Trail Blazer fans. The development days are over. For the first time in many, many seasons the front office is chasing a big-ticket free agent.
It’s a test, too — can this franchise lure a key player to Portland? Can Kevin Pritchard make this city a destination for good players looking to win a championship? Or are those players going to do what they usually do — stay with their original team for money or seek the big markets and/or the sun belt?
That’s what we should all be thinking about. But just from the comments in the last few days about Hedo Turkoglu, I have a feeling a lot of Trail Blazer fans are pretty conflicted. Is this really the player who is going to put Portland over the top? Is small forward the position where you felt the most need? Is this a guy you want to see $50 million invested in?
And by the way, if Turkoglu comes here, there has to be some sort of trade in the offing (probably the Kirk Hinrich deal) because Travis Outlaw would never wear a Trail Blazer uniform again.
Honestly, is Hedo the right guy?
I don’t think I’m the only one a little bit skeptical about this. Yes, I wrote yesterday that I was coming around to it. I can see what they see. I guess I’m just not as certain as they are ($50 million certain) that it’s going to work.
I’m not sure this whole thing feels the way it’s supposed to feel.
NBA, Trail Blazers | Dwight Jaynes | July 1, 2009
Dwight Jaynes, free agency, Hedo Turkoglu, Kevin Pritchard, Portland Trail Blazers
No one else is going to hand Hedo 5 years at $50 million, I really hope the Blazers don’t. If Blazer’s brass is convinced he’s the guy we need, than at least let the market set his compensation.
Buckle up…it’s going to get interesting.
I’m talking myself into Hedo, although I’m not sure he’s the best fit. I would be excited about the pick and roll possibilities, just as Thorpe mentioned…BUT I don’t know if the personel is the problem as much as Nate’s ability to coach the pick and roll. Also…Roy has to learn to distribute the ball better on the pick and roll.
Now I’m just rambling…I’m trying to see KP’s vision here, but having a hard time. I would be fine with Adding Hinrich in a sign and trade for Outlaw and Blake…and then moving forward with Martel and Batum.
I guess I am still hoping for something that results in the same kind of “wow – how did he do that” feeling we had after LMA and Brandon Roy were drafted. Maybe we get Hedo – and then trade him for the guy we are really targeting? That would be more like what I would expect. Something that results in everyone in the NBA saying “Wow – look at that team”. Maybe Hedo and another piece would get us there.
The toughest decisions in management is knowing when to let someone go. In KP we trust.
I still have dreams after watching those jumps shots that Claver was making. Love the footwork – this guy looks like he could be huge in a couple of years. Maybe that’s when everyone finally realizes they had been Pritch-slapped.
How many free agents are we rumored to be going after now? Turkoglu, Kidd, Miller, Lee, others I can’t remember. None of them make perfect sense. And I have a hard time seeing that we need to change much on the offensive end, which Turkoglu would necessitate. I think our biggest need is improvement on the defensive end without tinkering too much with the offense, which was right at the top of the league in efficiency last year.
If it turns out that the Blazers do acquire Hedo Turkoglu, then I’ll probably learn to live with it. But as long as it hasn’t happened yet, I’m going to be against it, for all the good that will do.
I just had visions of a longer, more athletic version of the Magic this year. I could see playing stretches with Brandon at the point, Rudy or Martell at the 2 and then Hedo, LA and Oden rounding it out. Pretty strong.
forget about hedo and focus on point guard. give martell and batum another season to prove themselves.
Devon Harris
Mike Bibby
Kirk Heinrich
Jose Calderon
Mike Conley
agreed. PG is a much bigger need at the moment.
I’m conflicted too on Hedo. I agree that if KP brings him here he has some other significant move in mind.
If this talk is real I’m afraid it may mean that Martel is never going to play again and the rest of the world doesn’t know it yet. That makes me sad.
I suspect KP knows there are potential issues bringing Hedo in but sees the benefit to Oden as outweighing any negatives. Ultimately I think the Blazers only get to the next level when they can get more out of Oden, especially on offense, so if Turkoglu accomplishes that, then I guess it’s worth the risk. That said, I would rather we have solved that through point guard, but maybe it’s really not a viable option. We’ll see.
If Hedo comes to the Blazers you’ll be getting a unselfish, well rounded player who is great in the 4th.
He’s not a sexy name, but definitly underrated. I’m sad to see him leave Orlando, but I don’t think the Magic wan’t to commit to another player for that long.
I’ve said this before, KP’s been very good evaluating talent w/o having NBA experience.
I can’t imagine him somehow losing clarity evaluating guys in the NBA, he should be that much more spot on evaluating existing guys in the league.
I really hope the Blazers don’t win the Hedo sweepstakes. I just don’t see the Hedo & Roy offense working at all. Also, to me it seems like Hedo’s just about to enter his career slide. I predict a quick slide just like Steve Smith.
There’s tremendous pressure to make the big move now. Maybe the right thing would be to wait ’til the mighty free agent class of 2010. I don’t see how Hedo makes us that much tougher physically. I like him though so who knows? It isn’t a no-brainer, and I was hoping for a no-brainer. Some of the best decisions you’ll ever make in life are things you decide not to do.
Our best chance of getting a big free agent here is if Greg develops more first and this becomes a much better place to go looking for a ring. That’s why Rashard Lewis said he picked Orlando.
With Hedo, I think it depends how much he wants out of Orlando for reasons that aren’t clear. Sometimes when you suffer a horrible defeat you just want to get away from that group, (and that coach.)
But we could get a bit of a reality check with this. Every now and then an NBA player makes a snide remark about life in the Rose City. As much as we like it, attracting someone here at this point could be a tough sell.
Kevin Pritchard is good but he can’t stop the rain.
Man! 50 million? He’s just not that good, or that tough. If I were Blake or Joel i’d be pissed off! Those players took lesser deals just to play for Portland, and now they shell out this kind of $$ for this guy.
I really hope the Blazers do nothing. We’ve got a good team, that just needs more experience. Let’s keep them together and see how well they play next year. If they struggle, then make a move. But not now.
I think the new contracts Portland will surely offer Roy and LaMarcus would count against the cap in 2010 so Portland won’t have any room under the cap then.
For a straight up free agent signing, it’s this year or nothing for the near future.
One additional thought. I hope that there are team options on years 3 through 5.
Well Kiki Vandeweghe worked out well for us the last time we decided we needed just one more player to get us over the top…
On the other side—
The Martel injury might be more serious than first thought, so SF becomes a weakness for us as Batum is too young and Rudy is too slight.
A top quality PG just might not be there for us at the right price or time of his career, so going for the next best fit could be the strategy.
How about signing Turk, then trading him… i.e. Kenny Anderson.
Can you think of a better way to get free assets to use in trade for what you really want?
I can’t imagine that KP will pay the “Turk” the kind of money being talked about. 4 years @ $40m sounds about right. Do it like the Bulls did the Heinrich contract on a descending scale. $12, $10, $10, $8 mil per year. He gets market value now, and we can trade him off a little easier when Batum is ready to take over.
I like Andre Miller for 3 years at $8m a season. Sounds about right for a starting point guard. By then we’ll know if Bayless is our starting point guard or the PDX version of Vinnie Johnson.
I think Heinrich is an upgrade but not sure he’s worth the extra $5m a year compared to Blake.
Definately not sold on Hedo here … I believe that he’ll cannibalize Roy, Aldridge, Blake and Rudy’s stats for a net gain of maybe three assists and four points a game. Is that worth $50 million? No.
We could literally pick up just about any player in the D-League to give us that kind of production.
Why not wait until 2010 when there are “real” free agents worth the big money available…. Not the scrubs who are out there now………………..
I for one have always been behind the Turk signing (not that my opinion matters much). We can run an inverted offense and in todays game having a big that can distribute and PG’s that can score off the ball is huge. Look how many teams are headed that way, Houston killed us by running 2 scoring guards at times. Look at Cleveland. Big guys just have a leg up when it comes to court vision. Blakes ability to hit open shots and Bayless’ ability to score off the ball would fit nicely with Turk, plus Rudy could step in at PG on occasion. People say this would take the ball out of Roy’s hand, and it might to an extent, but I think there will be plenty to go around. I imagine Blake will run the point a lot less though.
Bumpity,
why would we get rid of Roy or Aldridge?
“Hedo and Roy” — sounds like a Las Vegas act.
I may be mistaken, but reading over the comments there are two things that came up quite a bit about this situation that need clarification:
#1 We won’t have cap space in 2010 to sign any free agents, we’ll be maxed out with Roy and Aldridge, and Oden will be up for an extension.
#2 We can’t sign Hedo and turn around and trade him right away. We’d have to wait until Dec. 15th. Maybe that would work, but it’s a huge gamble depending on what leads up to that date. Mike Barrett mentioned it in his blog, and ya, in a perfect world, that’d be the way to go. Unfortunately it’s not a reality unless some other team has convinced KP that they’ll wait.
Personally, I’m really skeptical about signing Hedo. It just doesn’t give me that warm and cozy feeling. I’d rather see us try to improve a different position via trade (e.g. @ the PG spot). I’m not convinced that SF is our biggest area of need, of course, Webster could be far worse than they’re letting on, which wouldn’t surprise me either.
here’s a link about that second part:
http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#Q76
It’s easy…. Lose Oden, sign Roy and Aldridge, sadly Webster’s foot injury may be a career ender, Convict Miles’s money comes off the books….
I’m skeptical too. What do we do with Webster & Batum? We also have to keep in mind that keeping Rudy happy entails sliding him over to sf at times to increase his minutes.
We have a bottle neck at the sg/sf position. Even if we trade Outlaw we’re not subracting.
Is it just me, or does this whole Hedo thing seem a bit deflating? It’s like someone offered you a hot new car, and you waited with anticipation. But instead getting the Porsche 911 Carrera, you get a Volkswagen Tiguan. I, like some of you here, was (perhaps unrealistically) expecting the Porsche.
Just can’t really be sold on Hedo. He’s a nice player w/good instincts. That side pick and roll w/Oden would be sweet. But his overall shooting%is very average. He shoots a very flat shot which hurts his% and causes him to be streaky. It also causes him to miss key free throws to win big games. This just seems like a gamble. Why gamble at this time for that kinda money? Do they need to? I don’t see it. Dwight is starting to sell me on the idea of J.Kidd. Not so much on Hedo.
And I thought that the Blazers were using advanced statistics to discern information on a player, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here. If Turkoglu signs with the Blazers (for whatever amount), you cannot with a straight face say that he is a statistically productive player, so the Blazers are discarding a vital part of valuation data on a player.
Also, I’ll keep arguing that for this Blazers team to take the next step, the power forward position is the weakest and an upgrade there would have the most impact.
This offseason is very important for the Blazers.
It is not inconceivable that both Roy and Oden will be on the DL in 2 or so years. The Blazers should be thinking ‘durability’ in the free agency market.
Our ‘ideal lineup’ of Oden, Aldridge and Roy at some time is going to go away sooner than we think or want.
The Blazers need a point guard who can create offense by driving into the lane and dishing to a rolling big man or to a shooter on the wing. Bayless isn’t that guard. Ball handling is profound weakness for the Blazers overall personified by Blake.
I would suggest the Blazers find a pointguard(s) first and build the team around Aldridge for he is going to last longer than either Roy or Oden.
To this end Fernandez and Batum become important pieces as well as Pryzbilla. A corp of real NBA guards ties all the pieces together.
Everybody sounds upset, but think: the Blazers only have cap room right now (next summer it will be gone with or without a free agent). The goal here should be able to upgrade as much as possible with this one-time cap space. The best player in the current free agent crop is Hedo and he is an upgrade over what we currently have at SF. It makes perfect sense to me. If you don’t like the move, present an alternative that you think is better. I don’t think there is one.
Bumpity, I’m sorry but you’re wrong about the salary cap for next summer. Miles’ money does come off, that much is true, but it’s only 8 or 9 million. Roy and Aldridge are both going to get max or near max dollars, big raises for both of them. What do they make now? 3-5 million roughly? They’re both going to be in the 10-13 million range next summer. That’s where Miles’ money goes. Granted Blake and Outlaw both come off the cap as well, but a huge chunk of their contracts (if they aren’t traded before the season starts) will also go to pay Roy and Aldridge, and eventually Batum, Rudy, Bayless, etc.
As far as Webster is concerned, they locked him up for the next 4 years @ I think 5 million per. They won’t be able to just cut him, his injury isn’t career threatening (yet, as far we know), but it also means he has no trade value until he shows he can play.
And last, you want to “lose Oden” after he’s played one year back from micro-fracture? Oden is kind of a trigger point for a huge debate amongst us Blazer fans, so I’ll just say this: I’m personally not willing to give up on him for another couple of years.
What everyone seems to be missing is that Turk is a free agent and we get him for nothing but our cap space in return. We lose nothing. We still have our youth to trade for the ‘right’ player and we can just trade Turk in Dec if it doesn’t work out. You can’t trade what you dont have. Free assests are better then ones you pay for.
Sure, this isn’t like getting a superstar FA, but this is what’s available and passing it by would be ignorant.
Mr. Jaynes,
ESPN.COM is reporting that Coach Nate is in Orlando today to meet with Hedo and that Hedo will be in Portland tomorrow to see the facilities so I guess that answers that. Why did Brandon Roy turn down the USA Basketball invitation for this months workouts? Does this disqualify him from being considered for the next Olympic team?
Okay, I get it now. Add Hedo or some other free agent and don’t lose anything. Trade, maybe even for a sign and trade free agent next year. No cap room next year – sorry about the slow uptake on that.
This is fun. It wasn’t too long ago that trading for a better player meant he had a 5-year suspended sentence instead of 10.
As I’ve tried to tell you KP lovers over and over, he doesn’t walk on water. In fact he really hasn’t done much since landing the lucky haymaker in the 2006 draft.
If you think Hedo (or Hinrich) will lead this team to the promised land, you are sorely mistaken.
sod………………
If Webster’s foot is still not properly healed for the rigors of NBA ball, he can be placed on the physically unable to perform list and his salary would not count against the cap…
In regards to the biggest draft bust (Oden) since Brian Bosworth and Ryan Leaf, he has got to go while he still has more value than a garage sale item…..
I still am miffed no one in Oregon but me wants the Blazers to go after Grant Hill. I mean, we are beating this Hedo Mule into hamburger meat, and last time I checked he was a small forward so……
We sure could use some Vet leadership on this squad and I don’t know how well Hedo fills the role of mentor; plus I for one still believe Batum is the future and would rather not retard his development by giving Turk a five year contract.
And geez, did any one watch Grant play last year? He was good, and at the age of 55 still led all swing men in field goal percentage at over 50% from the floor. Rebounds, steals, poster boy for good guys in the NBA, a great sound-board for re-hab questions, and doesn’t cost 10 mil a year…
Granted he loves Phoenix and he happens to be Kerrs #1 priority, but as of yesterday he stated he wanted to see what direction the suns were heading, and since that seems to be straight into the toilet I’d say he was open to conversation…
Grant Hill wants to see what direction the Suns are heading because if he doesn’t like it, he’ll either sign with Orlando or retire.
And where the hell did the Martel and career ending jabber come from? Did I miss something?
Dwight, the answer to your question is no. Why pay $40-$50 million for a role player who plays the same position as two other, younger, defensively suprior role players who are already on the team? Not only do I believe that that’s a ripoff, I believe that the Blazers would actually be better in the long run without Hedo. Webster and Batum will be better than fine at small forward. The Blazers need a backup 4 and a starting pg. That’s all. They should just pour all their money and assets into those positions and watch Hedo loft up 3s and give up layups for somebody else.
Bumpity,
Lumping Oden in with Bosworth and Leaf?
If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’re a troll
Oh, and why does everyone say we need an upgrade at point guard? Blake is a SOLID PG who can hit the 3 and distribute the ball well. He’s not a superstar, but neither is Derek Fisher, and he just won another championship.
Hill was quoted yesterday by Dime Mag saying he was ‘too young to retire.’
Just seems worth exploring to me…….
kdjinx, ya, and every other source out there says he’ll only play for Phoenix or Orlando. I hate to keep peeing in your cheerios over the guy, but it’s not a possibility.
ElkoSteve
Blake is a horrible defender and his ball distribution is overrated. He is good at passing the ball around the perimeter, but that’s about it.
He can hit the three, so I will give you that. It would be nice to have a point guard who is actually capable of attacking the rim and getting to the line. Blake is not that type of guy.
Grant Hill??? Is it still 1997?