Orlando Magic's Hedo Turkoglu: Who Says You Can't Go Home Again?

TheFantasyFix.comDec 31, 2010

For Hedo Turkoglu to go home he’d probably have to get a plane ticket back to Turkey or at least his first NBA home of Sacramento. Let’s just keep things simple and call Orlando Hedo’s home, because the Magic appear to be the team that he’s most comfortable with. Hedo is so comfortable that his days in Toronto and Phoenix are a mere memory.

Don’t be fooled by Hedo’s season averages: 10.2 PPG, 4.2 RPG and 2.9 APG. In seven games since being traded Hedo is averaging 12.9 PPG, 4.9 RPG and 5.0 APG. While his numbers are better than they were with the Raptors and Suns, they are lower than what he averaged in 2008-09, his last season with the Magic. Turkoglu’s numbers should eventually return to what he averaged in his last season with the Magic, 16.8 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 4.9 APG.

Hedo is already putting up more shots than he did in Toronto and Phoenix, and while he is still below ten shots per game, the upwards trend will continue because Hedo hasn’t put up less than ten shots per game since his days in Sacramento and San Antonio.

With Marcin Gortat and Rashard Lewis gone, Hedo will be forced to play a little more at the four. But don’t count for a great increase in rebounds because he is more likely to play a stretch four and draw his man away from the basket for a mid range jumper (45 percent from the field). He shoots over bigger and slower defenders that cannot get to him in time (40 percent from beyond the arc) or simply take them off the dribble. Oh yes, he can still get the ball to Dwight Howard down low.

While Hedo is probably already owned in over 90 percent of all fantasy leagues, you could still buy low and get him in a trade since he’s underperforming in a lot of categories. But this is due to change as the season wears on. Act now because this sale won’t last long.

Written by Artem "Professor Dunk" Altman exclusively for the www.thefantasyfix.com You can follow Artem on Twitter @ProfessorDunk