"HE-DON'T" - Turkoglu Spurns Blazers and Joins Toronto Raptors

Wow.  That's really all I can type at this point.  I head out of town for the weekend with a Hedo Turkoglu deal basically in place for "your" Portland Trail Blazers, have that deal confirmed once I reach my destination, and then jump on the Blackberry right before bed and find a tweet from Miss Marissa calling out some unbelievable news.

marissaivana  Dang! It was HE-DO and now it's HE-DONT.  @blazeoflove

As John Hollinger so graciously pointed out, it was sort of weird to have Hedo show up in Portland without his wife who was rumored to be a HUGE fan of Toronto.

Turkoglu came alone, amid rumors that his wife very strongly preferred to be in Toronto, and I remember thinking at that very moment that the Blazers recruiting pitch was doomed to failure. It was going to be tough to sell her on the charms of Portland if she wasn't there.

And here is the ESPN report which has the Blazers fuming...

Free agent forward Hedo Turkoglu changed his mind Friday and decided not to join the Portland Trail Blazers, opting instead to accept a five-year $53 million offer from the Toronto Raptors, sources told ESPN.com.

The decision left the Blazers livid and was a huge coup for the Raptors, who have promised Turkoglu all of the salary-cap space they will have from renouncing their rights to Shawn Marion, Anthony Parker and Carlos Delfino, which will likely add up to a starting salary in the $10.1 million range, with eight percent annual raises.

The one thing I will say as this news all rolls in, is that my buddy Cuzzy over at Cuzoogle said to me 2 days ago that Toronto has a huge Turkish community and he wouldn't be surprised if he loved the international and east coast feel of Toronto over Portland.  Sure enough, he was right.
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Rudy Really Upset with Portland or Not?

Definitely some mixed reports coming out today on whether or not Rudy Fernandez really is pissed at "your" Portland Trail Blazers.  Kevin Pritchard and Nate McMillan seemed surprised by the reports, yet Rudy came out in a Spanish radio interview today and sort of confirmed that he is confused at the need for Turkoglu.

Jason Quick reports:

The "news" that Rudy Fernandez is "infuriated" with the Trail Blazers for their interest in Hedo Turkoglu comes as a surprise to coach Nate McMillan and general manager Kevin Pritchard, both of whom had separate conversations with the guard earlier this week on the phone.

"I just spoke with Rudy two days ago, to see how he was doing, and he said he was doing fine and that he was happy,'' McMillan said. "I talked to him about our moves, and how we did in the draft, and why we did what we did in the draft and he was fine with it. We talked about Sergio (Rodriguez) and he was OK with everything we've done.''

Pritchard said he "had a good conversation" with Fernandez on Monday.

And Blazers Edge has a translation from Rudy's interview:

According to Marca Rudy talked to Efe Radio:
1º.- There´re always rumors and he knows about them from the press.
2º.- He hasn´t talked to his agents about him leaving the Blazers. He has only comented with them about      the possibility of Turkoglu going to Portland.

3º.- He doesn´t close doors to any team from Europe or the NBA4º.- Asked about whether Torkoglu going to Portland might affect his playing time, he said: I want to play. We´ll have to talk with Portland and ask them how can I do it.

And a little more:

" Turkoglu is a Guard and we are speaking about almost six for two positions. This makes me think that the team does not give me space for my work. I have demonstrated that I could be more of a factor."

"I have been surprised with the minutes that I have played but if now they pick up a player in my position, that will stop my progression, and what I want is minutes so I can improve."

Who knows at this point right?

I understand that Rudy could be a little frustrated with the addition of a big contract.  In the next 2 years, the Blazers will commit a ton of money and minutes to Oden, Roy, and Aldridge and with Turkoglu also taking up a chunk of change and playing time, where would Rudy fit?

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Portland Trail Blazers 2009 Summer League Roster

The 2009 Trail Blazers Summer League roster has finally been released!  I know we've all been waiting to see which hopefuls would be joining reigning MVP Jerryd Bayless and the Blazers newest draft picks.  Here you go!

Jerryd Bayless - G - Arizona
Jeff Pendergraph - F - Arizona State
Dante Cunningham -  F - Villanova
Patty Mills - G - St. Mary's (CA)
Thomas Gardner - G - Missouri
Pooh Jeter - G - Portland
Bobby Jones - F - Washington
David Padgett - F - Louisville
Deji Akindele - C - Chicago State
Matt Freije - F - Vanderbilt
Dwayne Mitchell - F - Lousiana-Lafayette
David Moss  - G - Indiana State

Summer League Head Coach - Joe Prunty

(Full Blazers Summer League Schedule Here)

I'm not about to go into a breakdown of the summer league roster as that would be a complete waste of time.  All I know is that Bayless will dominate again while many of us will get to see if Pendergraph and Cunningham are ready to step into a roster spot.

It's nice to see Jeter and Gardner on the squad getting a chance in the league but neither will make a big enough splash.  At least they get to continue to live the dream  for a few more years.

The 2 questions we'll need answering are:

• Can Bayless become a point guard or just remain a scorer?
• Is Patty Mills an NBA level prospect?

The rest of the 2009 NBA Summer League coverage can be found at NBA.com.
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Zach Randolph Headed to the Memphis Grizzlies

The Los Angeles Clippers are reportedly sending Zach "Z-Bo" Randolph to the Memphis Grizzlies in return for Quentin Richardson.  We were all wondering how the drafting of Blake Griffin would affect the former Blazer, and this move answers that question.  ESPN reporting...

The Los Angeles Clippers opened a starting position for No. 1 pick Blake Griffin on Wednesday.

The team agreed to trade power forward Zach Randolph to the Memphis Grizzlies for swingman Quentin Richardson, sources told ESPN.com's Chad Ford. The deal was first reported by the Los Angeles Times.

The trade can't be finalized until the league establishes the salary cap July 8 and lifts the moratorium on player movement.

Wait a minute...did someone just reunite Zach Randolph and Darius Miles?  Oh yes they did! As a friend so elegantly pointed out, strip clubs in Portland will now be hiring strippers as the majority have now booked flights to Tennessee.
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Rudy Fernandez Upset with Portland Over Turkoglu Pursuit?

Just as the free agency movement was about to begin, the Blazers have apparently pissed off their Spanish back-up, Rudy Fernandez.  It looks like Rudy would not be happy with the addition of Hedo Turkoglu to the roster for obvious playing time reasons.  ESPN has the scoop...

Portland's pursuit of a certain player from Turkey has infuriated the Trail Blazers' lone remaining Spanish player, Rudy Fernandez, to the point where he'd prefer to play in Greece, Russia or even Spain again, ESPN.com learned Tuesday.

A league source told ESPN.com that Fernandez has already been courted informally by European powerhouses Olympiacos, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and CSKA Moscow as word spread that the Blazers had become the apparent front-runners to land free agent Hedo Turkoglu.

Are we surprised by this?  Not at all.  Do we really care that much?  A little.

First off, Rudy will likely be re-upped by the Blazers in the next year and will start to really earn some solid money in the NBA if that is a worry of his, plus his contract with the Blazers would have to be terminated before he could take off back to Europe.

My opinion?  If the guy wants to be an All-Star in this league and see significant playing time and touches, then he needs to bulk the hell up and learn to play some legitimate defense.  If he really wants to be a long-term NBA guy, worrying about Nate McMillan's system isn't going to get him anywhere.  There are plenty of other issues within that this kid needs to work on first.

Did the Sergio trade have anything to do with this?  Possibly.  If it did, someone please remind Rudy that this is a business and not a fraternity of buddies.
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