The 75 greatest NBA players of the 2000s, ranked
By Cal Durrett
72) Hedo Turkoglu
On screen, former NBA small forward Hedo Turkoglu might seem out of place on this list. He never made an all-star team or an all-NBA team and his decade averages of 12.5 points and 4.9 rebounds in 27.9 minutes in 678 games are respectable but not spectacular.
Despite that, at his best, he was an effective and unorthodox player. He wasn't particularly athletic or fast but found ways of beating his defender and his size at 6'10 along with his shooting and playmaking made the Orlando Magic a fun team to watch.
Turkoglu started his career with the Sacramento Kings and spent a season with the San Antonio Spurs before finding his way to the Magic. There, he played a big role on several Dwight Howard-led teams as arguably their third-best player, including winning Most Improved Player by averaging 19.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5 assists during the 2007–08 season.
In 2009, he helped them make it to the NBA Finals and averaged 18 points while shooting nearly 44% from three. That proved to be a good capper on a solid decade for Turkoglu and factoring in that he won a major award and was key to a Finals team, he makes the cut.