Update: Hedo may not be headed to Portland after all -- reports now suggest he ended negotiations abruptly and will sign with the Raptors.
Henry Abbott of TrueHoop is reporting that the Blazers have landed top free agent Hedo Turkoglu for the princely sum of $50 million (or more) over five years. Hedo had been the expected target of Portland's largess before the Magic acquired Vince Carter. That move made this move rather logical from every perspective.
... well, except the perspective that it's unclear exactly why Portland needs a ball-dominant small forward. After all, the Blazers do have one Brandon Roy, eternal All-Star, under contract. And with Roy dominating the ball this season, the Blazers finished with the league's finest offense. In terms of offense, this is a bit like the Lakers adding Ron Artest: sounds good on the surface, but when you look at the details, you get a bit worried.
Rumors have run wild that Orlando Magic free agent Hedo Turkoglu is the main target of the Portland Trail Blazers this free-agent season. The Blazers are in need of veteran leadership and help at the small forward position, but I'm not sure that Turkoglu is the answer.
Turkoglu was extremely effective with the Magic this postseason, but that doesn't mean he's the right piece for the Blazers. If I were the Blazers, I would target Lakers free-agent small forward Trevor Ariza.
The deal that sent Shaquille O'Neal to the Cavaliers last week had been rumored since the trade deadline back in February, so it wasn't exactly a huge surprise. But had Shaq gone to another team -- like, say, the Portland Trail Blazers -- that would have been a pretty shocking development, mainly because we hadn't heard even a whisper of that being a possibility.
Apparently, though, the Blazers were indeed in talks with the Suns to bring O'Neal to Portland. This semi-bombshell comes from Shaq himself, who also says that the talks came to an end once he informed Steve Kerr he wasn't interested in being sent to the Blazers.
It's hard to blame the Toronto Raptors for taking a 7-footer with 3-point range and the ability to play three positions. That's what Andrea Bargnani presented as the No. 1 pick. There was no clear-cut top choice. The 2006 NBA Draft was filled with unproven early entries, a couple of seasoned seniors and raw big men looking for a big payday.
So the Raptors took the player they thought had the best upside. Hey, the NBA Draft is about development these days, right? Nobody in this supposed weak draft was supposed to be an All-Star anyway, right? No one told that to Brandon Roy, who was passed up by five teams and traded by another. Finally, the Portland Trail Blazers, still ringing from a reputation of bad guys, car racers and dog fighters, had a franchise player in their hands, and he was from nearby Seattle.
SEATTLE -- Jamal Crawford may be the league's most talented player yet to play in an All-Star Game or even a playoff game. Once a skinny, inexperienced but immensely talented 20-year-old tabbed part of the Bulls' post-Jordan resurrection, Crawford is now 29, just completed his ninth year in the NBA and at a crossroads.
He has a monumental decision on his hands in the next five weeks: Opt out of the final two years of his contract and become a free agent or return to an uncertain situation in Golden State, a team rich with talent but lacking direction after the firing of GM Chris Mullin who lost a power struggle with upper management.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.
It was 20 years ago that Bo Jackson became a pop-culture icon when Nike featured him in a series of "Bo Knows ..."commercials for what was then a new kind of shoe, the Nike Cross Trainer. Now Nike has come out with a new Trainer 1 shoe, and to celebrate the release they brought together superstars from all sports for the 2009 Nike Training Summit. Superstars like Amare Stoudemire, Brandon Roy, Larry Fitzgerald, Adrian Peterson, Troy Polamalu (right) and more talk about everything from who they think the greatest athletes are (Troy's answer will surprise you) to what other sports they would play if they could cross over like Bo (again, Troy's answer will surprise you).
Even as his team was booted from the playoffs by the Houston Rockets, Brandon Roy recently received high praise from Ron Artest. Artest decided to give him the highest compliment possible, stating that Roy, not Kobe Bryant, was the toughest player he's ever had to guard.
And you best believe FanHouse (specifically my homie Elie Seckbach) was jumping on that question when Roy made an appearance at the Global Training Summit, sporting his customized B-Roy Trainer 1's. We also discuss his offseason plans, what the Blazers' goals are for next year and what he's doing in the offseason.
Last week, I left the comfort of my mother's basement shoddy little East Coast apartment to rep FanHouse at the 2009 Nike Global Training Summit in Newport Beach, California. The primary reason for convening 50-some media members in sunny SoCal? The introduction of the Nike Trainer 1, the Swoosh's newest crosstraining shoe, which celebrates the 20-year anniversary of the "Bo Knows" campaign, featuring Bo Jackson.
You can't keep a good seven-foot Chinese guy with incredible footwork, length, and a solid supporting cast built of metric-positive role players down forever.
The Houston Rockets advanced to the second round for the first time in Yao Ming's seven-year career on Thursday night with a 92-76 win at home over the Portland Trailblazers. And while Yao was his usual productive self with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks, it was Ron Artest shaking off his offensive doldrums to explode for 27 points that helped Houston to overcome their demons. And possibly give Tracy McGrady a few more.
The Trail Blazers can't win against the Rockets without big games from Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge -- and sometimes even that's not enough. So when you consider the fact that Roy entered Game 5 on Tuesday completely flu-stricken and Aldridge hadn't even attempted a shot in practice for two days because of a swollen elbow, it'd be understandable if you predicted the game wouldn't even be close.
As it turns out, it wasn't -- but instead of Houston closing the door, it was the Blazers who pulled away in the final quarter, winning 88-77. How did they do it? Roy and Aldridge, of course; the duo each scored 25 points, defying their respective ailments to help the Blazers stave off elimination for at least one more night.
Update: Hedo may not be headed to Portland after all -- reports now suggest he ended negotiations abruptly and will sign with the Raptors.
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FanHouse fixes a decade of draft-day blunders in 
SEATTLE -- 
It was 20 years ago that 
Will Brinson kicked it at The OC for the 
The Trail Blazers can't win against the Rockets without big games from 
