San Antonio Spurs: 15 players you may have forgot played in San Antonio
No. 12: Hedo Turkoglu (2003-04)
History today remembers Hedo Turkoglu as one of the middle-shelf pioneers of the pace-and-space, small-ball era. Being a featured option on some of this generation’s most memorable teams — think the 2002 Sacramento Kings, the Orlando Magic — allowed him the fortune of playing in 109 different playoff games. More than Chris Paul, more than Russell Westbrook, Vince Carter, etc.
More from Hoops Habit
- 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
- Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
- Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
- Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
- NBA Trades: The Lakers bolster their frontcourt in this deal with the Pacers
Plugged right in the middle of that, we find Hedo Turkoglu’s one season appearance with the San Antonio Spurs in 2003-04. Unlike Malone and D’Antoni, the sweet-shooting Turkoglu arrived by virtue of a three-team trade that saw the Sacramento Kings acquire All-Star center Brad Miller, the Pacers acquire Danny Ferry and Scott Pollard, and allowed the San Antonio Spurs to add Ron Mercer and Turkoglu to a defending-champion roster.
The move at the time, though incomparable to say, adding Karl Malone and Gary Payton, was seen as a plus. In theory, Turkoglu, regarded as “a Euro version of Robert Horry” by Ric Bucher, had the scalability needed to fit in with Duncan and company.
For the most part, that was true. Turkoglu started half the season for a 57-win San Antonio Spurs team and averaged 9.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game on a career-high 41.9 percent from 3-point range, but shot just 32.1 percent in the playoffs. He was gone a year later, with the Spurs unwilling to match his six-year, $39 million offer sheet with the Orlando Magic.
Better individual days were ahead, but Turkoglu likely ranks somewhere in the list of players with poor championship luck. In the years before and after Turkoglu’s one season, the Spurs won a title. He also had the misfortune of playing for teams that came painfully close. It’s not quite as bad as say, Corie Blount, who somehow played with Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson and Magic Johnson and still never won a title. But, unfortunate it remains.