Do you throw a potential team leader and former NBA finals starter out with the bath water after a single washed-out season?
Do you give up on a 30-year-old near-star player because he showed up to camp out-of-shape, faced serious family medical issues during the season, broke his orbital bone and then broke his nose?
Like other near-star, inflated ego, self-indulgent NBA players who just signed the first truly big deal of their professional careers, Hedo Turkoglu came into town and blew it.
It wasn’t all his fault, but in the end a 30-year-old professional athlete should have known better and made more of an effort to live up to his contract.
And Jay Triano should have known better than to let any player slide through training camp with an “I’m tired” excuse. Hedo Turkoglu’s MGD moment should have never happenned.
But that is hardly a reason for all the “let’s dump Turkoglu” stuff that is flying around the internet.
Any reasonable person should believe Hedo Turkoglu was embarrassed by what happenned this past season in Toronto and that there is no possible way that he would permit such unflattering circumstances to reoccur again next season. If he has anything, Turkoglu has pride.
And most professional athletes have pride. And most recover from an bad season to return to more typical production the following year.
Turkoglu isn’t washed up. He isn’t that old. The now 31-year-old is still in what should be the prime years of his career. If the Raptors were to “force” another team to take Turkoglu as part of a sign and trade package with Chris Bosh, the odds are it’s the Raptors who would look stupid next season.
One of the NBA’s biggest problem players, Ron Artest signed a 5-year $33 million deal with the Lakers and his stats fell at least as precipitously as Turkoglu’s. And the Lakers could have had Trevor Ariza for the same money.
But Ron-Ron isn’t washed up either and still has years of high level ball left in him. And by the time it’s over, it’s likely Artest will be an important part of the Lakers drive to finals this season.
Everybody remembers guys who don’t live up to their contracts. But veterans like Turkoglu (and Artest) can contribute to winning teams. And dumping them because of a one-year slide in play is more likely to leave the the dumper with egg on their face next season than the likely lucky recipent.
i totally agree. when i first heard turkoglu signed with toronto i was so happy because he had a great season in orlando and is a great player. I was disspointed with his performance this season but he showed flashes of the old turk and hopefully he’ll be back next season with more motivation to prove his doubters wrong!
Raptors have no choice.
If they sell low now, odds are they’ll be making a huge mistake that could cost them the up coming season too.
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You make a pretty good argument. I’m going to have to think about this…
I stand by what I said, Hedo did not act like he was part of the team this season. Sitting on the bench, chuckling while the team loses is certainly not a crowd pleaser.
Looking at Hedo as an asset however gives a clear answer. If you had some idiosyncratic returns you don’t dump the asset unless fundamentals have changed. The fundamentals about Hedo have not changed though and therefore selling him at a loss is pointless. What is really needed imho is a coach that scares the living daylight out of Hedo, so he will be scared to under perform and therefore plays the best ball of his career.
Hm. Firstly, comparing Hedo Turkoglu to Ron Artest in terms of “drop in production” doesn’t make sense. Ron Artest wasn’t brought in so he could score the ball – the Lakers already have enough firepower on offence. It was on defence that they wanted a boost, and by all accounts, Artest gave them that as the Lakers improved their DRAT by 1 point per 100 possessions.
Hedo Turkoglu, in contrast, was brought in to provide some fluidity on offence and some end-of-game/shotclock play-making ability. He was also brought in to provide some veteran leadership with playoff experience. It wasn’t that he produced all that less, it was moreso that he simply had less opportunities to produce. In hindsight, it was a mistake by Colangelo to try to put that many high usage players on the court at the same time – there is only one ball. At the same time, all of our high usage players happen to be crap on the defensive end and on the boards. And the result is a good offensive team that can’t defend or rebound (yay, Golden State).
Secondly, getting rid of Hedo to bring back cap relief and some young blood is not a mistake. Without Bosh’s contribution on offence and on the boards, this team is well on its way to competing for the lottery next season. Why keep a 30+-year-old player that really disappointed in many ways, especially off the court? Is that any way to foster a culture of accountability and winning? There are quite a few impressionable young players on this Raptors squad, and I don’t want him doing any more damage to them than he’s already done. If we’re not planning on winning next year (which we won’t be if Bosh leaves), then keep him far, far, away from the youngsters. Any veteran Colangelo keeps around should be an extremely high character, hard-working guy that can lead by example – that guy is not Hedo Turkoglu.
I agree. I think its just the Raps system thats not really jiving with Turk.
If you watch the postgame analysis on the Magic’s playoff games, Turk still gets mentioned by the panelists, specially Barkley. They still think Orlando would have been a better team if Hedo was still there. And that says quite a lot about how Hedo is as a player.
I hope the Raps wake up and take advantage of Hedo’s skills.
Disappointing off the court etc are all fairy tales.
People loved the sport of making a scapegoat out of Hedo. Cultural /ethnic issues probably got involved, and some sources have fueled that phenomenon. Nobody can perform well under that much hostility; you couldn’t motivate yourself. Truly and objectively, the only incident was when he went out with friends, and they were none but teammates, for a drink, and some woman (whose name sounds like one from an ethnic origin that would not have sympathy for the Turk..) took his photo without his permission (no one knows how she would use it…) and Hedo objected to that, wanted the photo given to him. Then he left the club with friends. This has been reported widely with every degree of distorted misinformation : he spent the night out (a lie), partyer (when, during the whole season, was he ever seen partying?) This whole thing would relate to the basketball culture in Toronto, which Hedo obviously was not accustomed with from years in his previous franchises. If this is the way TO would treat the only big and sought after name that opted to go to Toronto, it should be fine with Hedo. Who else accepted to go there recently? Shawn Marion insisted to leave in spite of big money offered.
Moreover, Hedo was not given the opportunity to contribute the way he could. He has a certain playing style, which made him the top scorer of Orlando Magic in the NBA series against Lakers, scoring higher than all other players. If the Raptors had not understood his style and decided they could make use of it, they should not have acquired Hedo. It is not sensible to expect him to change his style and become a different player after 9 years in NBA. He never claimed a strength in defending. In TO Bosh wants all balls given to him so that he can use. If Bosh leaves the Raptors can become a different team and a better one too. If he stays the team can never be any better than the year that ended, would probably be worse, since not every year will be a contract year for Bosh. Hedo’s performance has declined, but let’s not forget the strentgh of the team he played has also declined, from Magic to Raptors.. He joined a team that was among the worst in NBA in defensive capability. How can Hedo change everything when the point guard (Calderon) gets owned by opponents without the plays have been even started? Give Hedo the responsibility to run the team and that would be the right way to utilise his assets and his veteran experience.