Hedo Leaves Trail of Fire in Portland

Despite Marcin Gortat's best efforts, magical Hedo Turkoglu has taken the 2009 free agency period by the sensitive bits. Five teams reportedly called Hedo's agent Lon Babby on Wednesday morning, inquiring about or begging for the Turk's services. The Blazers top the list, having dispatched coach Nate McMillan for a Wednesday evening rendezvous in Orlando. But don't count out the Raptors(!), who will reportedly offer Hedo $60 million over five years.

But it ain't all rose petals and champagne amid the Hedo saga. According to ESPN's Chris Sheridan, the Portland courtship of Turkoglu has left one Mr. Rudy Fernandez feeling a bit ... hurt. Hurt to the point he is allegedly attempting to quit the Blazers.

Sheridan cites sources telling of Rudy's resentment, with the impetus being that Rudy himself felt he didn't get the ball enough last year. If there aren't enough balls to go around in the first place, adding one of the most ball-controlling forwards in the biz won't help. (Sure, it'll help Portland. But not Rudy.)

Assuming Sheridan's report is accurate -- that Fernandez is hot and has told Portland as such -- does the Spaniard have any recourse? He'd allegedly like to return to Europe, where he can be a star instead of a sub and make more money. But the world's professional leagues honor each others' contracts, and Fernandez is under contract for 2009-10. Portland also holds team options for 2010-11 and 2011-12. Woe, the life of a first-round draft pick!

The most sensible result, then, would be a trade. Well ... maybe the most sensible result would be that Rudy calms down and tries to become a Sixth Man of the Year candidate, backing up Brandon Roy and Hedo. But we're dealing with a man's pride and his pocketbook, a dangerous combination not conducive to sensibility.

(Fist bump to Blazer's Edge.)