Portland is not high on single players lists to play either. Being married, I thought Hedo might be different but the foreign influence was too great. Toronto is the fourth largetst city in North America and KP could kind of see this coming in how Toronto and Brian Colangelo was going to play it....lay in the weeds, lay in the weeds, and then come in late.
Listening to what his agent said, Hedo did make the Blazers a promise. Hedo was convinced Portland was the best option in term of quality of team and amount of money. It came down to his wife.
The Blazers are not upset but stung but they are ready to move on and it might be a blessing in disguise and they may be on to something better. They have turned their attention to Gerald Wallace. He is a no nonsense, business type of player. The Blazers need to get tougher, be better defensively and Wallace is all of that.
From one source, the Blazers have inquired about him. He had 3 years and $30+MM dollars left and it would have to be an unbalanced trade. This was talked about at the trade deadline but it broke down when Charlotte wanted Batum. It appears those talks have started up again.
I don't think David Lee is much of an option. I talked to his agent and basically went round and round as to how serious those inquiries are.
Wallace adressed the problems Portland has more than Hedo. Turkoglu was a below average defensive player and their perimeter defense is a big problem. Wallace is also a slasher that balances out all the Blazer jumpshooting. He is a physical beast. Charlotte would give him up because they could save some money. It would take something like Nicolas Batum and Travis or maybe Bayless and I don't know if the Blazers would do that. Batum was the reason they didn't go through with it at the deadline.
I don't know if Charlotte is in that mode (cost savings) and he is clearly one of their better players. Kevin feels like this is the time he has to make a move since they won't be under the cap again anytime soon.
Agents around the league are puzzled with Portland might do next. They don't see David Lee working out and don't see Lamar Odom fitting the culture. LaMarcus Aldridge is not too fond of Lamar Odom but he is the most high profile FA out there for the Blazers.
