Update: The Hedo to Blazers deal is off. Hedo has backed out of the contract, and will instead sign with the Raptors.
ESPN is reporting
Hedo Turkoglu has reached an agreement in principle to become a Portland Trail Blazer, according to sources.
Although a verbal commitment may be announced sooner, the terms of the contract cannot be finalized until Wednesday, after the NBA informs teams what next year’s salary cap will be.
The exact financial terms won’t be set until the salary cap is set.
Turkoglu, a 6-10 forward from Turkey who played a prominent role in the Magic’s recent trip to the NBA Finals, had been looking for a five-year deal in the neighborhood of $50 million.
Experts believe the cap likely will be somewhere between $57 million and $59 million. If the cap number comes in at the high end, the Blazers can offer close to what Turkoglu is hoping for.
Ron Artest
I was all for this signing before Ron Artest joined the Los Angeles Lakers. I have such respect for Ron’s defensive abilities, that I’m now very uncertain about whether or not Portland should have made this play.
Is Hedo a large enough difference maker to put Portland past LA with Artest dogging him on the court? Ehh … I’m going to have to ponder this one some more.
Blazers Defense
The Blazers were the worst perimeter defense in the NBA amongst playoff teams last season, one of the worst across the entire NBA.
I thought Hedo Turkoglu did a better job defensively than any of Portland’s perimeter defenders last season.
Nicolas Batum pushed him for a close second, but I thought Hedo was still a bit ahead of him. Hedo Turkoglu was way ahead of Brandon Roy, Travis Outlaw and Rudy Fernandez defensively. So, Hedo will help improve Portland’s defense immediately.
I expected Martell Webster to become the Blazers best wing defender last season, but he suffered an unfortunate injury and missed the season, however, he’ll be returning next season. That’s another good wing defender that Portland can rely on.
Add together the addition of Hedo’s good defensive ability (not stellar by any means, but good), Martell’s return, Batum’s continued growth as a defender (excellent defensive potential) and the Blazers wing defense should become an asset for them.
Blazers Wings
Portland has too many rotation worthy players on their wings right now. How would I rank them and who would I move?
- Brandon Roy
- Hedo Turkoglu
- Martell Webster
- Nicolas Batum
- Rudy Fernandez
- Travis Outlaw
Travis Outlaw would be the first player I’d look to move. I think the rest of Portland’s wings all add more to the table than he does.
Hedo’s Passing
I loved the idea of Portland adding Hedo’s passing and playmaking abilities to their side.
The combination of Hedo Turkoglu and Brandon Roy together, and with a steady point guard, would allow Portland’s offense great versatility. They’d be able to create and score from anywhere on the court. Very difficult to defend against.
Also, Hedo gives good service to his big men, something the Blazers need. They don’t feed Greg Oden anywhere near well enough, and are only mediocre at getting Aldridge good shots.
Hedo’s Scoring
Portland do not need Hedo Turkoglu to score 20 points a game, or to lead them in scoring. What they need from Hedo is 16-18 points and 5 assists.
They already have an excellent first scoring option in Brandon Roy and a decent + developing second scoring option in LaMarcus Aldridge. The Blazers also have a plethora of fourth scoring options in Greg Oden, Travis Outlaw, Martell Webster, and Rudy Fernandez. And then good complementary offensive players in Steve Blake and Nicolas Batum. Plus a bright scoring guard prospect in Jerryd Bayless.
The Blazers do not need Hedo Turkoglu to be a prolific scorer. They just need him to be a third scoring option, and someone who can create a shot for himself and for others from time to time to take some of the burden off of Brandon Roy’s shoulders, and to provide some versatility to the Blazers predictable offense.
Portland’s Other Cap Options
What were there other options?
- Do nothing — just let their team grow
- Spend the cap space
Let’s have a look at spending the cap space
Point guards
- Jason Kidd — Very good option
- Kirk Hinrich — Good option. Kirk would have been acquired through a trade, rather than free agency. Very good defender, someone who’ll give them a good boost defensively and a capable offensive player. His shooting ability and ability to play both on and off the ball is a good fit alongside Brandon Roy.
- Andre Miller — Poor option considering his age and jump shooting limitations.
- Ben Gordon — A very good option. The Blazers could have converted him into a scoring point guard. Brandon Roy would do enough playmaking and point guard duties to make Gordon functional as a point guard.
- Mike Bibby — A poor option.
Wings
- Ron Artest — Very good option. Artest is a lockdown defender, will make a massive difference to their team defense, and is a capable third scoring option.
- Hedo Turkoglu — I considered him a very good option before Artest joined LA. Now I’m unsure, need to think on it some more.
- Shawn Marion — A poor option due to his offensive limitations and declining defensive impact.
- Trevor Ariza — Nicolas Batum in one, or two, or three years time?
Any other options?
- A creative solution. Trading LaMarcus Aldridge for a top player/prospect and then signing one of Paul Millsap, or David Lee.
- Or keeping their cap space and trying to engineer a trade with it.
How does Hedo Turkoglu rank relative to these options?
Fairly well. Hedo was one of the best options available to Portland.
Legitimate Contender
Are Portland a legitimate contender now?
Ron Artest
Before the Lakers added Ron Artest, my answer to that question would have been yes. With only minimal improvement from the Blazers youngsters, I would have considered their team good enough to knock off a healthy and in form Lakers team.
After Ron Artest, I think they need more. The good news is they have lots of youth, Greg Oden in particular, who can improve individually and take the Blazers to that next level. So maybe, maybe they are now an elite team, and maybe not.
Good Article
There was a very good article in the Oregonian earlier today on the Blazers efforts to recruit Hedo Turkoglu. It’s well worth a read.
Conclusion
I’m not sure. The Ron Artest signing has thrown me for a loop.
I was a big fan of this idea a weak ago though. There is a lot of good stuff there.
Some more pondering is definitely needed.
I have to disagree with you on Hedo. I feel that Portland should have kept the cap space as they have many quality players at the wing spots. In my opinion, the Blazers best option should have been making a play for Carter, shifting Roy to point guard and having a battle between outlaw/batum/webster for the three.
If they had traded Darius Miles (expiring), Outlaw (expiring), and a youngster or a first round pick, I’m sure carter could have been had. Their line-up would’ve been:
pg: roy, blake, bayless
sg: carter, fernandez
sf: batum, webster
pf: aldridge, free agent signing (millsap? they still have significant cap space because they traded salary)
c: przybilla, oden
This, in my opinion, would be a quality team capable of challenging for the championship
Hey Dino Gunner,
That would be a very good team. Nice idea.
The Blazers can’t trade Darius Miles though. He’s not a part of their organization anymore, even though he counts against their cap.
But they could have offered up their cap space, and Outlaw, and the trade would go through fine. So it only removes the free agency signing. It would have been interesting to see what else, if anything else, NJ would have insisted on in the trade after gaining Outlaw and instant cap space (very good offer by itself).
That would have been a nice trade for the Blazers. Good idea.
Dino Gunner,
Anytime the talk is about shifting Roy to the PG spot you’ve got my immediate interest.
IMO, that would’ve have been a most interesting way for the Blazers to have approached the coming season.
There will be more on Hedo and the Raptors tomorrow.
Wow! I can`t believe this happened. This is like the reverse John Salmons
Dino Gunner,
Parallel Universes … ala, Star Trek!
Dave,
You’re the only person who I know that can explain the Raptors current financial situation using language that I can understand.
If the Raptors can acquire Hedo Turkoglu for approximately $10.0 M for the 2009-2010 season [and beyond],
What’s the reason other sources are saying that the team will now need to renounce all of its current Free Agents in order to have enough financial room to accommodate this signing?
[ ... when it appears at first-glance that they would be over the expected Salary Cap but NOT the expected Luxury Tax, after having to renounce the rights to Shawn Marion ONLY]
e.g. including factors like different Cap holds, the MLE, and the opportunity to re-sign their own “renounced” players in an open market situation, etc.
Thanks, in advance.
Hey Khandor,
When a free agent expires he doesn’t actually come off the team’s books. In his place, a cap hold is left on his team’s payroll until one of three things happen (1) He resigns (2) He signs elsewhere (3) he is renounced.
A Fictitious Example
The cap hold is used to stop certain situations from happening.
An example, let’s say the Lakers have $20 million in cap space next summer before they sign Kobe Bryant. Without a cap hold, the Lakers could spend that $20 million on LeBron James, and then resign Kobe Bryant at another $20 million because they have his full bird rights and can sign him to a contract despite being over the cap.
To stop this from happening, a cap hold of $20 million or so (relative to the player’s last contract), is left on the Lakers books for Kobe Bryant. So the Lakers effectively have no cap space without renouncing Kobe, and if they do so, they then lose their full bird rights to him, which in turn means they can’t resign him after they sign LeBron.
Cap holds are designed to stop cap manipulation.
That’s why when a team holds rights to a player, a cap hold is left in their place, to stop cap manipulation.
Player Rights
Okay, players have three different types of rights.
(1) Full Bird Rights — A team who is over the top can make any contract offer to their player, and can offer 10.5% raises annually. To have full bird rights, the player needs to be with his team (or on the same contract, rights traded along with player) for three years. Also, these contracts can be up to six years in length.
(2) Early Bird Rights — A player can be resigned for 175% of his previous year’s salary, and can receive up to 10.5% annual increases on his contract. For this, a player must be with the club for two years. This contract must last a minimum of two years, and can last up to five years.
(3) Non-Bird Rights — A player can be resigned for 120% of his previous contract, and can receive up to 8% annual increases on his contract. A player must have been with his club for only one season for the club to have these rights. Again, contract is limited to five years.
Then there’s everyone else. A free agent who played with another team last year.
If a club has one of these types of bird rights, then a cap hold is put in place.
Renouncing
When a team renounces, or rescinds, it’s player(s) … the cap hold is removed, and the club has access to it’s cap space. The team loses it’s bird rights to the players they announce.
Detroit had to do the same thing with Allen Iverson, Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess in order to sign Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva.
Toronto
Toronto had to renounce it’s own free agents in order to have their $9 million or so in cap space.
Thanks, Dave, that helps somewhat.
Follow-up question:
Is a refusal to make “a qualifying offer” to a specific player [who is a restricted free agent] necessarily the same thing as “a renouncement” of said player?
Khandor,
I do not think so, but I’m not certain.
It does stop the player from being a restricted free agent, but I believe they get to keep their bird rights to the player.