Has Hedo Turkoglu or Orlando Magic Taught Us a Valuable Lesson?

There were two significant, groundbreaking changes evident in the NBA this season. One will have an everlasting effect while the other will just be a quiet ripple at dawn on a lake far away.

We all know about “the Decision” by now as it is probably the most discussed topic in the NBA and will still be either way when Miami Heat wins or loses in the Finals this summer.

The other significant move was Hedo Turkoglu's return to the Orlando Magic after leaving a year and a half ago. After a career-reviving few years, which ended with Orlando in the NBA Finals, the player was not re-signed with the team because his asking price was deemed too high.

Fast-forward to this season. Ignoring stops in Toronto and Phoenix, the same player is playing for the Orlando Magic at the price he was after in the first instance and it even secured a rare admittance from an NBA general manager that he was wrong.

"In its simplest form—Hedo's gone and now he's back—you could say we made a mistake, but there's more to it than that," Otis Smith said. "We made a deal to fill a hole based on what we knew the economics would be down the road with Hedo."

It is too easy to jump on Smith and call him all the names in the book, but hardly anyone thought Hedo was worth the money he was demanding back in 2009 in spite of his performance. The NBA had a long history of overpaying players who suddenly find their inspiration in a career year then go back to their normal behavior where they pretend to care for the entire new contract.

However, the lesson here is clear: If you have ultimate success with a certain roster, you should do all you can to keep that roster intact. Of course, there are exceptions, like Atlanta re-signing Joe Johnson to a maximum contract to keep a second round team intact. However, to reiterate, if you make it to the NBA Finals at least give that roster another season together.

But that does not mean a player should be overpaid, and I personally applauded Magic management for not signing Turkoglu at an exaggerated price at the time. Especially considering this guy had been all over the NBA without the kind success he had in his four years in Orlando.

A recent article on clipperblog.com about Donald Stirling addressed this sort of culture where players expect big money not because they deserve it or require it but because it shows respect.

"There is hardly anything more clear[ly] about respect than the money an athlete is paid. That may sound vile to base respect on the type of money pro basketball players earn, particularly to fans who are unemployed in this market or making minimum wage or even if they’re making six figures working their butts off.

"But think about it in a more localized context. What job do you do? Would it frustrate you if someone in your company was paid more than you even though you did a better job? Would you want to work for an employer that consistently paid poorly, treated you poorly and put out a bad product? Exactly."

Turkoglu was offered $34 million over four years by the Magic. Not surprisingly, he balked at that as he had Portland offering him $50 million plus an extra year, but he ultimately signed with Toronto for $53 million over five years.

Obviously, the Magic undervalued his market value and disrespected a player who averaged 15.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 38.9 minutes in the playoffs that ended in the NBA finals. Surely they must have known at the time that the journeyman’s recent accomplishments were mainly due to the Magic’s style of play.

Too bad they could not convince the Toronto Raptors otherwise after Turkoglu played 74 games, each a painful reminder that they made a big mistake; or the Phoenix Suns, who later bailed the Raptors out but were able to salvage their season (debatable) by shipping the Turkish forward back to the loving and welcoming arms of Orlando, much like the coming home of the prodigal son.

Since the reunion, Orlando has gone on their longest winning streak of the season.  Now this may not be ultimately be down to Turkoglu alone, as Orlando also acquired a top ten (if not top five) shooting guard in Jason Richards and Gilbert Arenas, a player who has previously contended for top scorer in a season.  But he is the only one of the new players that knows Stan van Gundy’s system, so surely that counts for something.

He's averaged 12.5 points, 6.5 assists and 5.3 rebounds in 35 minutes a game and had a triple-double against Atlanta Hawks, then capped that off dishing out 17 assists in a come-from-behind victory in Dallas.

"I'm glad I finally did something to help this team win," Turkoglu said after recording his third career triple-double against the Hawks. "When I have the ball in my hands, I'm able to do the things I'm good at. My strength is to be the guy who is a facilitator, get my shot or find one for my teammates."

As Jason Richardson pointed out, in Phoenix they already had a great playmaker in Steve Nash, but what happened in Toronto? Anyway, that’s water under the bridge now as Orlando has just served notice that they are back in contention.

But looking at the bigger picture, if you make it to the NBA Finals you should do everything in your power to re-sign every contributing member of that roster and not try to substitute them with cheaper replacement.  

As a player they can give you the keys to the bank but if you can’t hold your head up in public because you are out of your depth, is it worth it?