A Case For Hedo Turkoglu to the Heat

With Hedo Turkoglu making his case as the best player hitting free agency this summer, it begs the question, would the Orlando Magic actually let him walk in free agency? All season long the Magic has lived and died by shooting the three, and it got them all the way to the finals. However, those looks would not be there without the interior game of Dwight Howard. Howard has been a one man wrecking crew in the interior all year, but it appears that he has met his match in the front line of the Lakers. It has become clearer and clearer throughout the finals that Howard's post game needs a lot of work this summer. Send him to big man camp with Patrick Ewing and figure out a way to get the guy some moves.
One guy who already has all the moves is Turkoglu. The guy has showed throughout the season and the playoffs that he has the ability to create off the dribble and/or hit the spot up jumper. He has been their go to guy, their clutch ball handler, and their go to defender down the stretch the other night. It is this versatility that makes him a matchup nightmare for opposing squads, so why in the world would they let him go? Rashard Lewis, is the other forward in the lineup, and he is another player suited small forward. Lewis is a sweet shooting athlete who shies away from banging inside, which has not been an issue till the finals. The Magic are getting killed inside, cause there is no help for Howard. Would they be better served having Lewis on the perimeter and a true power forward next to Howard?
If that is the case, Riley needs to get on the horn and see about working a sign and trade deal giving up Udonis Haslem and change for Hedo Turkoglu. Turkoglu is 30 years old and started hitting his prime over the last 2 seasons. His versatile game would match up perfectly with Dwayne Wade, allowing the Heat with more opportunities to play Wade off of the ball and keep defenses honest, by giving the team another scorer. A frontcourt of Jermaine O'Neal, Michael Beasley, and Hedo Turkoglu looks great to me.
Will the Magic look at this seasons finals and realize that what they were missing was more help inside for Howard, or will they be content with the frontcourt that got them to the finals? If it comes down to a lack of size, then Riley needs to do his best to sign Turkoglu as a free agent or work a sign and trade deal for some more money, cause he would be a great addition to this lineup.

2009 FREE AGENTS...Whose on your wishlist?

2009 FREE AGENT CLASS:

	Key: ETO = Early Termination Option; P = Player Option; T = Team Option
Atlanta	RESTRICTED Thomas Gardner Othello Hunter Mario West Josh Childress Solomon Jones Marvin Williams UNRESTRICTED Zaza Pachulia Mike Bibby Ronald Murray
Boston	RESTRICTED Glen Davis Leon Powe UNRESTRICTED Eddie House (P) Stephon Marbury Mikki Moore
Charlotte	RESTRICTED Raymond Felton Cartier Martin Sean May Sean Singletary (T) UNRESTRICTED Juwan Howard
Chicago	RESTRICTED Aaron Gray UNRESTRICTED Ben Gordon Lindsey Hunter Jerome James (P)
Cleveland	RESTRICTED None UNRESTRICTED Zydrunas Ilgauskas (ETO) Joe Smith Wally Szczerbiak Anderson Varejao (P) Lorenzen Wright
Dallas	RESTRICTED Ryan Hollins UNRESTRICTED Brandon Bass Devean George (P) Gerald Green Jason Kidd James Singleton
Denver	RESTRICTED Linas Kleiza Johan Petro UNRESTRICTED Chris Andersen Anthony Carter Jason Hart Steven Hunter (ETO) Dahntay Jones
Detroit	RESTRICTED Walter Herrmann UNRESTRICTED Kwame Brown (P) Allen Iverson Antonio McDyess Rasheed Wallace
Golden State	RESTRICTED Rob Kurz C.J. Watson UNRESTRICTED Jamal Crawford (ETO)
Houston	RESTRICTED None UNRESTRICTED Ron Artest Brian Cook (P) Dikembe Mutombo Von Wafer
Indiana	RESTRICTED Jarrett Jack Josh McRoberts UNRESTRICTED Maceo Baston Marquis Daniels (T) Travis Diener (P) Stephen Graham Rasho Nesterovic
L.A. Clippers	RESTRICTED Alex Acker (T) Steve Novak UNRESTRICTED Ricky Davis (P) Fred Jones Brian Skinner (P)
L.A. Lakers	RESTRICTED Shannon Brown UNRESTRICTED Trevor Ariza Kobe Bryant (ETO) Lamar Odom
Memphis	RESTRICTED Juan Carlos Navarro Hakim Warrick UNRESTRICTED Chris Mihm Quinton Ross Mike Wilks
Miami	RESTRICTED Joel Anthony Yakhouba Diawara (P) Jamario Moon Chris Quinn (P) UNRESTRICTED Mark Blount (ETO) Luther Head Jamaal Magloire Jermaine O'Neal (P)
Milwaukee	RESTRICTED Ersan Ilyasova Ramon Sessions Charlie Villanueva UNRESTRICTED Malik Allen (P) Keith Bogans Francisco Elson (P) Damon Jones
Minnesota	RESTRICTED Bobby Brown (P) UNRESTRICTED Rodney Carney Jason Collins Kevin Ollie Shelden Williams
New Jersey	RESTRICTED None UNRESTRICTED Maurice Ager Trenton Hassell (ETO) Jarvis Hayes (T)
New Orleans	RESTRICTED None UNRESTRICTED Ryan Bowen Melvin Ely Sean Marks
New York	RESTRICTED David Lee Nate Robinson UNRESTRICTED Eddy Curry (ETO) Al Harrington (P) Quentin Richardson (ETO) Chris Wilcox
Oklahoma City	RESTRICTED None UNRESTRICTED Damien Wilkins (ETO) Desmond Mason Malik Rose Robert Swift
Orlando	RESTRICTED Marcin Gortat Jeremy Richardson UNRESTRICTED Adonal Foyle Anthony Johnson (P) Tyronn Lue Hedo Turkoglu (ETO)
Philadelphia	RESTRICTED None UNRESTRICTED Royal Ivey (P) Donyell Marshall Andre Miller Theo Ratliff Kareem Rush
Phoenix	RESTRICTED Louis Amundson (T) UNRESTRICTED Matt Barnes Grant Hill Stromile Swift
Portland	RESTRICTED Channing Frye UNRESTRICTED Raef LaFrentz Shavlik Randolph Michael Ruffin
Sacramento	RESTRICTED Ike Diogu Rashad McCants UNRESTRICTED Calvin Booth Bobby Jackson Cedric Simmons
San Antonio	RESTRICTED None UNRESTRICTED Michael Finley (P) Drew Gooden Ime Udoka Jacque Vaughn
Toronto	RESTRICTED Carlos Delfino Joey Graham UNRESTRICTED Shawn Marion Anthony Parker Jake Voskuhl
Utah	RESTRICTED Paul Millsap Kyrylo Fesenko (T) UNRESTRICTED Morris Almond Carlos Boozer (P) Jarron Collins Brevin Knight Kyle Korver (ETO) Mehmet Okur (ETO) Ronnie Price
Washington	RESTRICTED None UNRESTRICTED Juan Dixon Etan Thomas (ETO)

ANDRE MILLER INTERESTED IN THE HEAT

The Miami Herald is reporting that free agent point guard, Andre Miller, is interested in the Heat if he leaves Philadelphia. Miller is one of the most underrated point guards in the league, but that is probably because he his game is far from flashy. If you look at his career stats you will notice that he is consistently solid in a lot of areas, averaging 14.6ppg, 7.4apg, 4.2rpg, and 1.2spg. The guy knows how to fill up a stat sheet. If he signed with the Heat, he would provide leadership in the locker room, an efficient ballhandler, and better on ball defense than we had with Mario Chalmers. Miller can cover either guard position, which would allow Wade a rest at times on the court.
Still there is always a big question mark with Miller, which is his lack of three point shooting. This past season he connected on 15 total three pointers and the previous season only 3. We got better production from behind the arc over the last two seasons from our fourth string center Mark Blount. So for all of the positives that Miller brings to a team, does his inability to stretch a defense make him the wrong fit next to Dwayne Wade? Or will his ability to get the ball to Wade in his prefered spots make up for his weakness?
In my opinion Wade needs to be surrounded by players who can hit from behind the arc to allow him the chance to operate late in games without the fear of a double or triple team. You look at the shooters surrounding Lebron James and Kobe Bryant, and look how much more attention those guys take from the defense than the players around Wade this season. Too often in the playoffs Wade was forced to go 1 on 5, cause there was nobody else with the ability to put pressure on the other team. While Miller is a steady player, he is not the right fit next to Wade. I would rather see fellow free agent Mike Bibby in a Heat uniform keeping defenses honest.