Previous post: https://www.reddit.com/r/torontoraptors/comments/1jz3w29/posting_a_raptor_every_day_until_we_know_where/

In order to celebrate the good of the past 30 years, you have to acknowledge the bad…and oof was the Hedo signing bad.

Ball.

Fresh off of a Finals run with Dwight Howard's oft-underrated, ahead of their time Magic squad, Turko was Toronto-bound via a sign and trade where he was expected to bolster the team's depth but all he ultimately did was further cement that we could have no good things in the Bosh era aside from Chris, T.J. when healthy and José Caldéron.

Türkoğlu was out of shape to start the season, remarkably unprofessional throughout (He faked having a stomach illness, seemingly in order to go clubbing), ineffective as a player and seemingly hostile to both the organization paying him $9 million as he underperformed across the board (For reference, that represented 15.6% of the then-57.7 million salary cap and made him tied for 76th highest paid player in the NBA that year) and the fans who expected better. That clubbing event I mentioned? Yeah, the fans brought it to the organization's attention which led to both him being reprimanded for their deception and for Hedo wanting to leave the Raptors.

Ball.

Honestly, the most memorable part of his tenure might be this infamous postgame interview. You know the one. It really is astonishing how much contempt Hedo exuded and how little he pretended he wanted to be there. That and landing Leandro Barbosa in the trade where he was sent to the Suns were arguably the highlight of his underwhelming Raptors tenure.

Ball.

Post-NBA, Hedo has been busy being a puppet for Turkish authoritarian Recep Erdoğan. For the record, this doesn't mean Enes "Free Dumb" Kanter isn't a right-wing, grifting asshole. Either way, Hedo being arguably the biggest free agency pickup for the Raptors relative to the player they were at the time (i.e. not counting Fred VanVleet as a rookie) speaks volumes as to how insignificant free agency is for teambuilding in Toronto when just about every "major" name that isn't re-signing one of our own has blown up in our face.

Fun fact: Hedo is the only player in franchise history to wear #26. Given the low bar he set, it won't take much for the next player who wears it to overcome his shoddy legacy.

Okay one more time: Ball.

7 comments

  2. I remember when we got Hedo. I was so excited for it. After the season (and especially playoffs) he had with Orlando, it looked like he would be a huge help in Toronto.

    The fact that there was a thriving Turkish community in Toronto made it look like it could be a long term fit as well.

    Man, I was wrong. Probably the most disappointed I’ve been about any Raptors player ever. (Yes that includes Dragic, who falls into the “disgusted by” category 😝)

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