Thoughts on 'Sheed, Turkoglu, Marion

By Brendan Hall
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Rasheed Wallace will be introduced this afternoon as the newest member of the Boston Celtics.

And the timing couldn't be any better.

The Celtics went all out in wooing Wallace to Boston, and for good reason. Next season, Boston's big three of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce will all be at least 31 years or older. Considering how much those guys are on the books for (over $53 million), at some point you need to give these guys insurance.

'Sheed can provide all of that, and then some. The man has made a career out of being an enforcer on the blocks, as evidenced by the amount of times he's been T'd up. He put up some monster seasons in Portland, and was an integral part of the Blazers' 2000 Conference Finals run (and collapse), but he's best known for his years with Ben Wallace on the Pistons, carrying on the bad-boy tradition set forth by Bill Laimbeer and Dennis Rodman.

After a physical postseason, the trend so far this offseason is to get protection for the team's superstars -- hence Shaq going to the Cavs, and Ron Artest waxing ecstatic about "hood-a-lizing" the Lakers. The jury's still out on how effective Sheed will be at 34 -- his offensive numbers will be shaky -- but know this: if Garnett truly is starting to wear down, this is a terrific move.

Not to mention, Boston sports fans and media will eat this guy up. Not since Trot Nixon have we had a guy in town who so personifies the gritty "dirt dog" persona. He's a trash-talker, but at the end of the day he's going to fight for every inch. I give it two weeks into the season before we start seeing 19-year-old NU undergrads with expired permits hawking "Sheed is a Beast" shirts on Causeway Street.

Speaking of fan favorites...with Grant Hill's name now popping up, the question around Boston is whether Glen Davis stays aboard. Hill has a nice game, but his finesse style of play does not fit in well with this group, which demands high defensive awareness, running ability and skilled perimeter play. Hill only fits the latter attribute. Big Baby wants veteran money...and honestly, when you're this far over the luxury tax, what's a few extra million dollars? Just think, you'll never be as impulsive as the Knicks or Mavericks.

Onto Hedo Turkoglu, the Turkish Assassin...or as I like to call him, Assassin's Creed...

In what has to be one of the biggest F.U.'s to an organization in recent years, the do-everything Turk backed out of the Portland Trail Blazers' offer after initially agreeing to a five-year, $50 million contract. Instead, he went to the Toronto Raptors for an extra three mil.

There are plenty of "politically correct" reasons those of us in the media have given for the Turkish Two Step. For one, he fits better in Toronto's system, which has embraced the European style of play. He also gets, er, slightly more money, though I'm not sure what the difference is when the money's this high (other than commission).

But here's a reason I like, one that Adrian Wojnarowski hinted at when he first broke the story for Yahoo! Sports, and in turn is one I'm not surprised the media isn't playing up more. Hedo's wife wanted to live in a more European-style city.

If you really wanted the "European style" experience in Canada, Toronto is about as Old World as a Big Mac. But I digress.

This couldn't happened to a more bratty organization, too. Sure, GM Kevin Pritchard would have you believe that the days of the Jail Blazers are over, just because they're now loaded with a bunch of mature guys who very polite to the public. But really, all that thuggish ruggish just got sweeped behind the scenes to the front office. Letting down your guard and calling a figurative truce with Jason Quick and John Canzano from the Portland Oregonian doesn't mean you're suddenly the Fresh Prince.

Seriously, do a Google search with the keywords "Darius Miles" and "Blazers" when you get a minute. They might be fooling you with their public relations dream team, but not me. Pritchard is a sketchy man.

On Shawn Marion...

Look, I think the dude is misunderstood. Put yourself in his shoes: you come out of UNLV, one of the founding cornerstones of uptempo basketball, and you play for a running team that totally fits your style, alongside two beasts of this generation (Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire) and a couple of lightning-quick scrappers (Leandro Barbosa, Raja Bell, Quentin Richardson). Inevitably, something has to change, because you can't win an NBA title just jacking up 130 points a game with no defense (see: Moe, Doug; Westhead, Paul), which means somebody's name is going to constantly come up in trade rumors. You happen to be the odd man out.

After the 137th trade rumor, you're inevitably going to flip out, or threaten to hurt Ric Bucher, whichever comes first. I mean, really, what do you people expect is going to happen?

Anyways, I'll give the Heat the benefit of the doubt that Marion played a better Ricky Davis than Scottie Pippen to Dwyane Wade's MJ-like game. But Toronto? Let's be honest, he was a square peg with no business in that system.

In Marion, Dallas will be getting an underappreciated swingman who is reaching the peak of his athleticism. Jason Kidd can run, and Shawn Marion can score. With a potential starting five of Kidd, Howard, Marion, Nowitzki and Dampier, they could go big and go fast. I'm thinking back to the days of Nellieball.

Bottom line, Marion is misunderstood and underappreciated. He'll get his due wherever he lands next.