Hedo in the Rose City

According to Jason Quick of the Oregonian, Kevin Pritchard has made Hedo Turkoglu his #1 target. It is also being reported by ESPN that Coach Nate is flying down to Orlando this afternoon to have a late night dinner with Hedo and Hedo will return the favor and drop by the Rose City tomorrow to tour the Blazers' facilities. After seeing Brandon Roy carry this team on his back for 6 games in the playoffs, I have been begging for a veteran 3rd scorer to ease the burden from Roy and Aldridge. Not only can Hedo knock down the 3, at a career 38.5% clip, but he is the prototypical point forward. Roy can't be our full time point guard and some teams were even smart enough to double team him at the end of games to get the ball out of his hands, if Hedo is added, there is another experienced ball handler to go to. The one thing numerous Blazer fans didn't want this off-season, was to get younger. It's true Hedo is not getting any younger, already at 30, but he has NBA Finals experience and has been to the conference finals on more than one occasion. As much as Turk brings to the table, there are quite a few concerns. The first being his level of play. He saw his scoring average drop from 19.5 to 16.8 in 2009, while his field goal and 3 point shooting percentage each dropped by nearly 4% too. Those drops in categories that are supposed to be his strengths are worrisome, especially considering Hedo is looking for a 4 or 5 year deal with at least 8 million a season. Finally, is Turk fools gold? Let's be real, this free agent crop is not the creme of the crop, so does Hedo look better just because there really isn't any other competition for the type of money he is looking for? Dustin's Take: Although Ron Artest is my #1 target, it's doubtful KP will court him for fear of him messing with our culture. With that said, I say go for it! He is 30 and will not stunt Batum's growth and Nic will still be able to play his 16 minutes a night. Roy is nearing the prime of his career and the Blazers should be doing everything possible to maximize each and every one of those years. After seeing the Finals, I am convinced our team is ready to contend for a title, this is just the first move to make it happen. Do not try and outbid Toronto! Matt's Take: Hedo is 30 and his stats dropped off significantly this year. Maybe it was a fluke, but this is getting to the time in one's career where things start breaking down and you stop moving as fast. This looks like a lot of other mistakes teams have made. Teams giving formerly good players a big long contract, just to see them break down, sit on their bench, and be completely untradeable. I am all for using our cap space this year, so if Hedo is the best you can get, ultimately it's not me paying the luxury tax starting next year, but if I were KP, I'd take a nice long look elsewhere first. UPDATE: From Jason Quick:Sources say Toronto is preparing an offer of five years and $60 million for Turkoglu.