Late yesterday afternoon, Hedo Turkoglu backed out of a verbal agreement to sign with the Portland Trailblazers.  Okay, I guess.  I mean, it’s a person’s perogative to change their mind if something doesn’t “feel right”.  There will continue to be a lot of speculation regarding exactly why he had a change of heart.  Was it that he got nervous about the health of Greg Oden?  Portland doesn’t have the European culture that Toronto has?  Who knows?  What I can tell you is that really it had nothing to do with money.  Anybody who tells you that is smoking some high grade crack.

Let’s look at some of the numbers.  Portland, reportedly, was offering 5 years and $50mil.  Toronto’s offer is believed to be 5 years and $56mil.  Now, for you and I, an additional $6mil seems like a pretty damn good reason.  However, for those who have made millions each year and amount that figures to about $800k per year isn’t really the deal breaker.  No, what really plays into the equation is something the Blazers are in dire need of.  Something that was very apparent in their first round playoff loss to Houston.  It still comes down to toughness.  What does that have to do with this you may ask?  Well if reports are accurate, and this reason is what I consider to be the most credible, it’s that his wife told him no.  She wanted to live in Toronto.

On one hand, I can kind of see her point.  There is a fairly good size Turkish population in Toronto; not so much in Portland.  Toronto has a European feel to it.  Portand?  Okay, a city that prides itself on a “Keep Portland Weird” slogan isn’t that cosmopolitan.  However, here’s a person who makes millions of dollars playing a game.  Somebody who has some mad skills that they’ve been able to basically travel the world because of it.  A man that should have one goal in mind: To win an NBA championship.  All that has been shot to hell because his wife won’t be able to find a good Turkish restaurant?  That’s not toughness.  All men who’ve been in a relationship knows what term comes to mind.

Don’t get me wrong.  I love my wife and defer to her quite a bit.  We do make a lot of decisions together and quite often I get trumped.  However, if I’m making that kind of scratch you can damn sure believe that we are moving to the area that I think gives me the best shot at realizing my dream.  Toronto?  They will lose Chris Bosh after next season and won’t have any incentives for another free agent to come to that team.  Turkoglu will be mired in mediocrity for years, but at least they’ll be able to attend those great Turkish festivals Toronto is known for.  I tell you, if it were my wife who made the millions in income my only questions for her would be where do I need to be and when?  There wouldn’t be JACK that I’d have to complain about.  C’mon Hedo, grow a pair.

Now, was he the answer Portland is looking for?  Not really.  True, he is a deadly shooter and one of the best pick and roll players in the game.  But he was just a piece of the puzzle.  I am of the firm belief that he would not have been Portland’s only move, and certainly not their biggest this off-season.  Now that he’s made an agreement and then went back on his word, Portland has some other options.  The one that I like best is that they can now make a lop-sidded trade.  They can trade for somebody who has a larger contract than who they decide to trade for him.  However, I am confident that Kevin Pritchard always has had a plan B.  With the crazy things he’s done in the last few years that has brought this team to the precipice of greatness one would have to be a total retard to think this was all he had.

No, the Turkoglu’s aren’t going to be Portland’s glamour couple.  North of the border will be their new home.  He’s not going to be in Portland, so get the hell out of America!!!  I have a sneaky suspicion there is a lot more to the story that may or may not become public.  I’m not devastated, but a little disappointed.  I’m sure there was a Pac-10 football official involved in this mess.  Whenever there’s a conspiracy you know those officials are involved.  Just ask a Sooners’ fan.  I’m sure they’ll agree.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 4th, 2009 at 12:45 pm and is filed under NBA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.