Blazers make Hedo the “12:01″ call
No smokescreens, no posturing, no rumors. Kevin Pritchard and the Blazers want Hedo Turkoglu, and they want him now, as in seconds after free-agency opened now. It’s a lot to process, all the thoughts and opinions out there, but here we go:
Ken Berger made the first call (I believe) and put down the number $50 million on the table. That’s a hell of a lot of dough for a 30-year old small forward, but every time I scratch my head about it, I remember that this is Portland’s only summer with cap space, and saving a few dollars by inking Turkoglu to an $8 million per year deal isn’t getting you another FA signing in the process. If Hedo is the man they want, and that extra green isn’t preventing you from making another move (like the Blake/Outlaw for Hinrich deal that would seem likely after this), then do what it takes.
For me, a lot depends on the length of the deal and the team options involved. But again, if it happens there’s no reason to bemoan a guy like Devin Harris. If the price was right, KP probably would have paid it. If tonight is any sign, he’s not holding anything back.
Wendell Maxey has all kinds of thoughts on Portland’s aggressive approach.
We agree that the signing would make Outlaw very expendable, but while I know it’s a common thought to say “there won’t be enough shots to go around”, that angle gets overblown every single year around this time. Free agents know what kind of situation they are signing into, and do you really believe Hedo or Roy and Co. are going to complain if they’re winning. On every championship team every year, there are players that could/should get more shots with another franchise.
Jason Quick’s report. Plus an oddly-timed release of a Rip City Revival piece on LaMarcus Aldridge that we’ll talk about later.
The reactions over at Blazersedge. There a ton of them and boy are they mixed.
Marc Stein with the FA wrap from around the league.
More tomorrow/today as it happens.
The local sports talk show honks are now claiming that Curry was Mr. Davidson’s(R.I.P) hire, and now that Joe D has more say in basketball ops, he gets to hire his own man. I;m not buying it. Detroit media: Stop defending Dumars with so much fervor, PLEASE!
July 1st, 2009 at 9:26 am[...] Hedo to the Blazers? It might just happen (Rip City Project) [...]
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:29 am