Just how bad do you want to get rid of Turk?

by Souwantmyname on Jun 26, 2010 3:05 PM EDT

Hey Toronto, I'm a Orlando Magic fan that wants to gauge your interest on a purely hypothetical trade. The entire league and fandom knows what a colossal failure Hedo Turkoglu was for you guys. Just how desperate are you to move him this offseason? Rumors are swirling around that my Orlando Magic are inquiring about New Orleans guard Chris Paul. With my being just plain giddy ove the possibility I decided to surmise a trade that could get this thing done.

My conclusion is right here if interested.

Then the rumors say that the factor that is possibly holding up the trade from getting done is Emeka Okafor. Okafor has 52 million left on his contract in which its obvious NO would want to move him. This is a problem for the magic since Okafor absolutely cannot play with Dwight Howard and cant be a backup C for us playing 8 minutes a night for 12 mill per year.

Here is where Toronto comes in. Yep you guessed it. Your big chance at jetisoning Turks bad contract is to take on Okafor's bad contract. You may think your getting screwed but just hear me out. Bad contracts are bad because all you can get for them are bad contracts in return. Okafor may? (what am I saying WILL) help your team more than Turkoglu. You can shift Barney over to his natural PF spot and let Okie do what Okie does best defend and rebound.

This trade is pretty much contingent on you losing Chris Bosh however since it doesnt make sense for you to do this unless Barney can play the 4. So Im done what do you guys think

Poll

Would you trade Hedo Turkoglu for Emeka Okafor?

Yes

67 votes

No

12 votes

Don't leave us Bosh...

9 votes

88 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 8 comments | 0 recs |

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Comments

We would take Okafor in a second.

by bigweeze on Jun 26, 2010 6:15 PM EDT reply actions

Thumbs Up

That would be a wonderful deal. Okafor isn’t great, but he aint half bad either. At least he can defend/tries.

by dchoubak on Jun 27, 2010 1:51 AM EDT reply actions

No

This trade will never happen, nor should it. The point of getting rid of underachieving malcontents with bad contracts is to get rid of them, not to bring in another one. That said, why would the Raps or the Hornets want to make this trade? Sure, Okafor would certainly be a better player for the Raps then Turk, and likely vice versa, but for both teams, getting rid of the contract and starting fresh, young and cheap is by far the better option. BC needs to get over this tilt he has to keep trying to make half-ass blockbuster moves to make the team a winner. He has to concede the failure of his euro-trash dream for Toronto, and start fresh. Build a team based around strong, physical defending. Look at the championship teams for the last ~25 years, and tell me how these teams have succeeded. Obviously, this is a tough pill for management, coaching staff and young veterans (Bargnani) to swallow, not to mention fans, but I would rather watch and be happy with a young, improving team that loses games but gets a higher lottery pick, rather then watch a team of rotating, new-comer veterans get crushed by high seeds in the playoffs each year, or miss them altogether, as well as miss out on better picks. Building through the draft is essential to the future of the Raps IMO.

by techno_crap on Jun 27, 2010 1:20 PM EDT reply actions

you're missing the point

you can’t just get rid of a bad contract in the NBA especially not for any useful younger players. The only thing that you can do with it is swap it for something similar contract-wise. And as far as bad contracts go at least Okafor can contribute meaningfully in a category that isn’t missed 3’s and turnovers

by alexmullen4180 on Jun 27, 2010 4:38 PM EDT up reply actions

You missed that same point in my post?

Okafor would certainly be a better player for the Raps then Turk, and likely vice versa, but for both teams, getting rid of the contract and starting fresh, young and cheap is by far the better option.

Don’t worry, I’m not so thick I don’t realize that Okafor is a guy that the Raps could definitely use, as a matter of fact, he might be exactly the type of player that the Raps need. However, what I see is a 27 year old who’s numbers have been regressing for the past 4 seasons, and who is still on the hook for 4 more years at 12mil per season. The Raps have no need to take on a contract nearly identical to Turkoglu’s, in which Okafor will only be taking away minutes from players that Toronto needs to develop, like Ed Davis. I think that within a year or two, and I hope even in his rookie year, Davis can match Okafor’s 10ppg, 9rpg, 1.5bpg keeping a high FG% because Okafor is offensively challenged beyond dunking. Okafor will want to be playing big minutes, and if the Raps use him in a platoon situation it will only make him mopey and not want to play. The Raps do need a vet who can sop up some minutes and start occasionally, but someone who will accept not being the number one guy, and won’t be earning a number one guy contract. Brad Miller anyone? As for Turk, if it is not possible to trade him for worthwhile picks or youngins, I’m not opposed to sitting his ass behind the bench ala Eddy Curry. By midseason, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone is desperate enough to take on a big contract as a rent-a-player. Look at the Cav’s mess with Jamison. People do dumb shit all the time. If this is not satisfactory, trade Turk for future considerations, wipe yours hands clean, and don’t make the same mistake again.

by techno_crap on Jun 27, 2010 7:50 PM EDT up reply actions

Future considerations? You seem to not understand the NBA salary cap.

Noone wants Turkoglu, nor should they. His value in the context of his contract is negative or nil at best.

by bigweeze on Jun 29, 2010 11:05 PM EDT up reply actions

I would rathrer Amir Johson start for much less money
I have pretty much convinced myself that the raptors need to upgrade in the back court for a starter either 1 or 2. I like who they can have upfront even without bosh

by cdub38 on Jun 27, 2010 10:49 PM EDT reply actions

you like their upfront?

wow!! the raps have better and younger 1 and 2’s then their 4 and 5 position. It’s a mess. Evan sucks really sucks didn’t serve his job on the team.amir ok. Nestrovic doesn.t have speed and lack alot of stuff but he can shoot but still lacks alot. Plus Bargnani Sucks to me I am srry f you love this player but he is the only reason why Bosh averaged 12 rbs this season. Bargnani doesn’t play as a Center period. he is not a true center he never stays in the post and he just got paid a big contract to what?….Average 6 rbs as a starting Center and take threes to miss in a game.Okafor is a great deal yes but after we have him and gotten ride of our turk we need to trade bargnani as well. and get a bad contract for a SF since turk is gone with that trade. Our SG and PF are young guys who can only get better. For the PG position BC is thinking of trading either jose or Jack. That is not the point but both alex mullen and techno crap is right. we need to get turk out but by doing so we have to trade for another bad contract. But we need to raise our young players.

by cyru on Jul 5, 2010 12:26 AM EDT up reply actions