So Hedo Wants to Go Back to Sacramento...

Franchise takes a moment to expand on yesterday's thoughts regarding shipping Hedo Turkoglu off to Sacramento...

Yesterday morning I posted a quick blurb on some ideas regarding a move by the Toronto Raptors that would see our buddy Hedo "The Ottoman" Turkoglu moved to Sacramento.

Did the ideas favour the Raptors?

On paper, certainly.

Do I think they're utterly ridiculous?

Not exactly, as for now it's hard to say what sort of value Hedo might have for certain teams.

However after reading this great break-down of the situation from the Sacramento Kings' perspective by Sactown Royalty, I'm re-thinking things just a bit.  The article really puts certain things into perspective from a Sacramento stand-point and really, I think any sort of "Hedo to Sacto" deal really depends on two things:

1)  How bad Turk wants out.

2)  How desperate Toronto is to get him out.

Let's look at the first point.

If Hedo is really as unhappy in Toronto as he's made it seem so far this off-season, and is indeed bound and determined to get back to the Kings, then would he waive his player option in the "final" year of his deal?  Because that's a huge starting point.  If he's willing to waive the last year of his deal, which at face value does seem quite implausible considering his age, the new CBA, etc, etc, then that makes things a little more palatable for teams.  The one thing playing in Toronto's favour here is that this isn't a young guy with many more possible years ahead; if Hedo wants to have a lasting impact on the game, he may well have to let go of some of his future earnings potential in order to get to a team that can allow him to achieve success again.

Onto the second bullet.

At some point this summer, perhaps even in the next two weeks, the Raptors need to decide how badly they want to rid themselves of the curse of Hedo.  There's an argument to be had for making him sit and forcing him to round into shape if he ever wants to see the court again, but I think that only makes sense if Bosh returns and the team manages to somehow add another key piece.  If Bosh goes, and the team is left in a bit of a rebuilding scenario, I don't see why you wouldn't liquidate all assets to start from scratch.  No sense keeping an overpaid malcontent around the impressionable young guys.  If the latter is then the case, the Dinos may move him for little in return, hoping to pull off what essentially would amount to "addition by subtraction."

So what deals make sense?

Frankly none.

The only thing that maybe makes sense for both teams is some scenario where Sacto takes on slightly longer contracts but ends up with more talent (say Hedo and Jose Calderon) while the Raps cut some salary long-term even though the players they get don't make the club necessarily more talented (Nocioni and Udrih.)

In fact the Raptors may have to throw another bone to Sacramento in the form of a future pick or some other player if they're extremely desperate to get Hedo out of dodge.  It simply doesn't make a great deal of sense for the Kings to grab an overpaid player who's also almost over-the-hill age-wise.

All of this to say, I think the Hedo-to-Sacramento idea stops here.  In my books there's a much better chance of moving him to a veteran team who can properly fit him into their system (like San Antonio) than a young club that's been trying to clear cap space the past few seasons.

It would be great to get him out of Toronto and out of the conference.

But I'm not holding my breath that Sacramento is much of a legitimate option.