Jaynes: List of Blazers' mistakes in landing Hedo

He's mocking us.

 

KP has already successfully "wooed" Rudy, probably giving him the same red carpet treatment in Spain.

 

I don't get why this is embarrassing at all. We made an offer, the most we could under the cap. Somebody else offered him more. He went with the bigger offer. That's pretty much standard practice and the one thing Dwight Jaynes got right - money talks.

Should we be embarrassed that we made our best pitch and lost out to a team willing to renounce/waive five players to overpay one? I'd feel worse if we hadn't pulled out all the stops and tried our best to land him. It simply came down to money. Toronto offered him more than we could. It's as simple as that.

Ultimately, I think Toronto will be the ones that are embarrassed after they miss the play-offs this coming season, Bosh signs elsewhere next summer and they are stuck in rebuilding mode with another 4 years and $50 million owed to a 31-year old role player. Hedo doesn't make them a contender now, and won't keep them out of the lottery after Bosh leaves. Without inking Bosh to an extension, this is a waste of $60 million by Toronto. They are the ones who should be (and will be) embarrassed.

BNM

 

I agree 100% with everything the author said. Hedo gave up chances to contend for championships in both Orlando and Portland for a slightly bigger contract in Toronto, where he will likely never see the play-offs again for the remainder of his career.

And, it was stupid move by Toronto. It reminds me of people so focused on winning an eBay auction that they impulsively bid $300 for the complete "Momma's Family" series on Betamax tapes when they have a VHS VCR. It's not like Toronto is in a win now situation where they just need one piece to put them over the top. And, after renouncing/waiving five players to clear cap space for Hedo, they have even more holes in their ridiculous roster than they did before. After last season's disaster, Bryan Colangelo must be felling the heat, and this smacks of a total desperation move by him. The Raps have gone from 47 wins to 42 to 33. One season of Hedo and Bosh may be enough to momentarily reverse (or slow) the trend (although I still doubt they'll make the play-offs), but after Bosh leaves, the Raps will quickly become one of the worst teams in the league. I hear Hedo's wife really likes Toronto. I wonder how her husband will like playing in a half empty stadium for a 20-win team.

BNM

 

Good column.
Purely from a basketball standpoint, there is no way Hedo can argue that Toronto was best for him over Portland and Orlando.
It screams to me that Hedo has been satisfied with what he's accomplished in his career. While it's usually when players get older, the more important winning a ring becomes -- Hedo proved otherwise. Quality of his life and his wife's are seemingly more important to him right now.

It's a shame since it contradicts everything that was said about him by Orlando media, and even guys from Sacramento. They all said he was a team-first guy, and great teammate.
It's not like he couldn't have waited five years to move to Toronto when his career will probably be finished.

Hedo will regret it if winning a title meant anything to him. And I'll be glad to see Toronto having his contract take up more than 1/6 of their cap while still being a mediocre franchise.

 

The notion that the Blazers made any mistake in the process of courting Turk is a fucking joke to me. This town is pretty much an unknown entity to the majority of the world. There is nothing wrong with bringing a FA here to get a real feel for the city. It truly could only HELP, not HURT. Jaynes is just a negative twat. That's what he does. The Blazers should feel NO SHAME in how they pursued Turk. Turk verbally agreed then backed out. The shame should be on him. I'm looking forward to him languishing in Toronto, paying way more taxes, dealing with much worse winters, and above all.......losing. Fuck him. He's lucky Toronto only comes to Portland once a year. I can promise you the 306 is going to give him a hearty FU when he gets introduced to the RG faithful.

 

Amen, brother! I couldn't have said it better myself.

What can you do when you've been given a commitment, binding or not, and the guy walks? Speaks to his integrity and we don't need a guy like that here.

 

haha.. I can't wait for that. It's going to be a great time when Toronto rolls into town.

 

I, for one, am not going to forget this.

However, in hindsight, I'm glad he didn't sign with us. His character, obviously, does not fit here. He prefers losing over winning. He proved that by his actions. Why the fuck would I want a guy like that on my Blazers? It's a blessing that he rejected us, but he rejected us just the same.

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if his game falls apart starting next season. I remember the old Turkey Glue. Historically speaking, he's been a very average NBA player. And now he got paid. And he's playing for a bad team. I believe, in his mind, he has nothing to really lose any more.

 

The "big fish in a small pond" syndrome.

Or in this case, the biggest turkey on a small chopping block.

 

Winning.. basketball.. they go hand in hand for me. If it's different for you, then I probably meant from a winning standpoint. I assume when you play ball, you want to win and play with good players, while getting paid well which he would have in Portland.

This decision by Hedo had nothing to do from a basketball standpoint. You never hear from his agent how great the Toronto team is, or how excited Hedo is by the prospect of playing with Bosh or Calderon.
Nope, it was all about his quality of life and getting paid from here on out in his career. Speaks volumes to me what his priorities are for his career.
It was nothing about being 'the man' somewhere else.

 

Yep, Toronto has gone from 47 wins to 42 to 33. Portland has gone from 21 to 32 to 41 to 54. One team moving in the wrong direction, the other moving in the right direction. If winning matters at all to him, Hedo clearly chose the wrong one.

The problem is, Hedo has never demonstrated the skill set to be "the man". He is at his absolute best in a complimentary role - which is why I personally thought he'd be a great fit in Portland. We don't need another star, we need a guy who makes our current stars better. If Bosh leaves Toronto next summer, and there are strong indications he will, Hedo will be the best player on a team with no one to take advantage of his skills. With Hedo as "the man" Toronto will be one of the worst teams in the league - possibly THE worst.

The Raptors had one of the worst benches in the league last season, and were below average at two of the five starting positions. They needed to upgrade two of their starters (three if they didn't retain Marion) and completely re-tool their bench. In order to free up the cap space to sign Hedo, they had to renounce/waive five players - including Marion. So, they got a minor upgrade at what was already one of their three above average starting positions, and still have big question marks at the other two - and now have absolutely NO bench. And, when Bosh leaves, it will get real ugly, real fast. Hedo plays his best when he has other potent offensive weapons he can set-up, and when he has a dominant defensive big man backing him up on the other end. After Bosh leaves, who are Toronto's remaining "potent offensive weapons"? Who is their "dominant defensive big man"? They will have no one left to take advantage of Hedo's strengths, and no one left to cover up his weaknesses.

So, yeah, he'll be "the man" on one of the worst teams in the league with an albatross of a contract to hinder their rebuilding efforts.

BNM

 

Seems like a moot point since Hedo would've been a starter in either Toronto or Portland. He wouldn't be riding the pines here making $10 million while we make our championship run. The guy was going to be a big-time part of our team for the next few years.

He had a choice, making similar money, playing 30-35 minutes per game for either Toronto or Portland. And he chose the inferior team.

Because we were told that it was basically about Toronto being more of a cosmopolitan city than Portland, and his wife would rather live there than Portland?
It was never about being the man. That's something you just assumed this morning.

 

I don't doubt that at all when speaking generally about NBA players. It's just in this case, Hedo had a chance to succeed individually whether in Portland or Toronto. The difference being the Blazers are going to win a hell of a lot more than Toronto, but he chose losing.
He would've been given the same amount of minutes, and been given all the opportunities to be an individually successful player to help us win a title here. He refused it.

Yep, when comparing Toronto and Portland from a basketball standpoint, and be given a starting role and make $10 mil a year, no reason to choose Toronto. And that's where we disagree, which is all right I guess.