KP, Do you know what you are doing? Turkoglu agrees to deal

Hedo Turkoglu agreed in principle to a five-year, $50 million deal with the Portland Trail Blazers. He gives a young team experience, and wingman that can create for himself and others. He’ll take the pressure off Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. With his passing ability, he can defer to both, or, with his scoring ability, can take over, especially late in the game. He’ll also force the Blazers into a bind.

General Manager Kevin Pritchard has been a genius when it comes to drafting. This is his first bold move via free-agency, so with it comes questioning and risks. He just signed a 30-year-old for five years, someone who may or may not fit into their system. Prior to this agreement, the Blazers were already a force to be reckoned with. Now, they will need to spent time incorporating him into the offense, and it may cost them early in the season. This move could pay huge dividends, and make Pritchard, once again, look like a genius, but time will tell.

There are varying opinions on this signing. Mine has already been voiced (Lakers, Charlie V, Ben Gordon to Pistons, and more">here, here, and here), so I’ll let others voice their opinions on the subject.

Henry Abbot of Truehoop on 95.5 The Game in Portland:

“It’s an interesting move… you never love free agency because you take a whole bunch of money and are choosing from a limited menu… given their options, it makes all kinds of sense to me… it makes a ton of sense to me… you’re already spreading the floor with shooters… now Turkoglu can be a second option to take some pressure off Brandon Roy… He has wanted 5 years and 50 million dollars… Portland has agreed to get there or darn close to there…You’ve got to be a teammate, you’ve got to be a winner, you’ve got to be a shooter… almost alone among NBA players that you can plug into the Blazers team and run the same things they’ve been running and just get more efficient scoring.”

The Oregonian’s Jason Quick:

“Pritchard and Blazers coach Nate McMillan both rave about Turkoglu’s basketball intelligence, and his ability to run the pick-and-roll. Pritchard said Turkoglu can aptly play three positions – small forward, power forward and some point guard – and that his biggest asset is he makes teammates better.”

Dwight Jaynes:

“But I’m surprised that there hasn’t been some concern about his loyalty. His motivation. He’s always been known as a good guy to have on a team but why would a player so quickly seem to want out of a situation like that one [in Orlando]? Is this a team-first guy? What, exactly, are his values?”

Before the agreement, Jaynes had this to say:

“But just from the comments in the last few days about Hedo Turkoglu, I have a feeling a lot of Trail Blazer fans are pretty conflicted. Is this really the player who is going to put Portland over the top? Is small forward the position where you felt the most need? Is this a guy you want to see $50 million invested in?”

Pritchard may have disgruntled a portion of the Blazers fan base, but at least he vowed not to make any other drastic moves. He specifically said an upgrade at the point guard position, “will not be our highest priority.” This is good news, as Pritchard as decided to stray away from going completely crazy.

Blazers depth chart with Turkoglu, including possible lineups:

• Starting lineup possibility: Point Guard-Steve Blake, Shooting guard-Brandon Roy, Small forward-Hedo Turkoglu, Power Forward-LaMarcus Aldridge, Center-Joel Przybilla

• Bench: Point Guard-Jerryd Bayless, Shooting Guard-Rudy Fernandez, Small forward-Nicolas Batum, Power forward-Travis Outlaw, Center-Greg Oden

Fernandez could possibly start at point guard, making Steve Blake his backup, and Jerryd Bayless Roy’s backup. I think this lineup would be the most effective, intriguing, and fun to watch.

Whatever starting lineup the Blazers boast, a team that won fifty four games last year and reached the playoffs for the first time since 2003 will have to adjust, all because of Turkoglu.