Celtics Interested In Evan Turner?

[knucklecup]

RT @GoodmanESPN: Evan Turner has received interest from Boston and Minnesota, a source told ESPN.

Didnt see this anywhere.

It's trendy to dislike him but I'm not so certain he's as bad as people think.

What says SoSH?

 

[Blacken]

I don't think Turner is bad. I think he can be a contributor if in the right role. But I don't think he's worthwhile for a rebuilding team.

 

[Sprowl]

What can Turner do that Jeff Green can't do for money that we'll have to pay him anyway?

 

[bowiac]

I don't think Turner is bad. I think he can be a contributor if in the right role. But I don't think he's worthwhile for a rebuilding team.

Being a contributor in the right role describes 90-95% of NBA players who got any minutes whatsover. Put another way, there's almost no player I'd be surprised to see succeed on the Spurs.
 
I don't know if he's bad, but he's one of the "less useful" players in the NBA.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Being a contributor in the right role describes 90-95% of NBA players who got any minutes whatsover. Put another way, there's almost no player I'd be surprised to see succeed on the Spurs.
 
I don't know if he's bad, but he's one of the "less useful" players in the NBA.

This sums up my opinion as well. He's a role player without any one specific plus skill. If he grew a super long beard I'd confuse him with John Salmons.

 

[bowiac]

That said, I don't really give much weight to this report. From what I've been told, ~50% or more or unattributed source stuff in the NBA and MLB is totally untrue.
 
My suspicion is that when a rumor doesn't make sense, it's a good guess that someone got their wires crossed. I think that's what going on here. I don't love Ainge's veteran talent evaluation, but chasing Evan Turner at this point in his career and for this Celtics team would be too much.

 

[Blacken]

Being a contributor in the right role describes 90-95% of NBA players who got any minutes whatsover. Put another way, there's almost no player I'd be surprised to see succeed on the Spurs.
 
I don't know if he's bad, but he's one of the "less useful" players in the NBA.

He's an okay spot-up three-point shooter, he can rebound decently for his position, and he has pretty good court vision. I think he should probably be playing the two, but I think he's a capable sixth or seventh man on a playoff team.

 

[wade boggs chicken dinner]

That said, I don't really give much weight to this report. From what I've been told, ~50% or more or unattributed source stuff in the NBA and MLB is totally untrue.
 
My suspicion is that when a rumor doesn't make sense, it's a good guess that someone got their wires crossed. I think that's what going on here. I don't love Ainge's veteran talent evaluation, but chasing Evan Turner at this point in his career and for this Celtics team would be too much.

 
Hardwood Houdini points out that the Wolves are interested in Turner (figures) so the Cs interest could be simply to accumulate players that are coveted by the Wolves to make a Love trade.  Otherwise, as you say, it makes no sense.  The Cs already have 17 players on their roster.

 

[ifmanis5]

Very inefficient player and doesn't play defense. He can rebound okay and pass when he feels inclined but I'd avoid him. Still young enough to improve so there is some upside but I'd much rather give his minutes to Young. Hopefully this is just talk.

 

[CreightonGubanich]

Turner's intriguing as a buy-low candidate. He needs the ball in his hands to be effective, and the Celtics might be able to give him that. They could turn him into a poor man's Jamal Crawford and potentially get an asset for him down the road. It was clear watching Turner in Indiana that he's not prepared, at this stage of his career, to blend into a good team's rotation as a contributor. 
 
With so many young guards on the team, though, I'm not sure it's worth giving minutes to Turner rather than developing them. It's not like Turner makes them any better; he can't do much that Marcus Thornton doesn't already provide.

 

[bowiac]

Turner may be an okay spot up three guy (I'm not sure - his career corner 3 percentage is .366, which isn't very valuable from that spot on the floor), and he rebounds fine, but I'm not sure that's enough. He was a bad fit for the Pacers however, who needed a Jordan Crawford type (or you know, somebody good) more than another guy who can get off a good shot by himself.

 

[Brickowski]

Unlike guys like Johnson, Pressey and Babb, Turner could have trade value if he shows improvement. So for me it depends on the price.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Unlike guys like Johnson, Pressey and Babb, Turner could have trade value if he shows improvement. So for me it depends on the price.

It will be fresh on teams minds how poorly he fit with Indiana when forced to adapt quickly to a role on a contender. This will hamper his value imo the best we can hope for is a Jordan Crawford scenario but more than likely this is simply a plan to accumulate pieces that Minnesota would be interested in.

 

[LondonSox]

Just bear in mind that the Sixers's fans were happy to see him go.
The Sixers.
I know from outside it looks like they wanted him gone for the extra pick/ to help tnaking but I disagree they wanted him gone as he was bad. On that team.... That's not good IMO. That fan base is loving upside and youth and developing and they gave up on him entirely.

 

[PeaceSignMoose]

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/24631416/report-celtics-finalizing-deal-with-free-agent-evan-turner
 
Ugh.

 

[ifmanis5]

If they can move Green lots of PT for Turner at SF will help them tank for next year's draft.

 

[knucklecup]

Love this and don't understand the Turner hate.

 

[Sprowl]

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/24631416/report-celtics-finalizing-deal-with-free-agent-evan-turner
 
Ugh.

 
Sounds like a Buy Low candidate -- is it possible to buy Evan Turner low enough? Can Green and Turner co-exist on the wings, either in a small (ie, Green plays the 4) or large (Turner plays the 2) lineup? Would competition for a starter's job light a fire under Green? Green has always had talent, but except for a few blowout games, he can't sustain the production.

 

[Brickowski]

Reclamation project. Low risk, high reward. The real issue is the duration of Turner's deal. The shorter the better.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Who says FA won't sign in Boston?

 

[Blacken]

Yeah...I mean, I don't hate Evan Turner, but I don't see the point of this. I guess they could catch lightning in a bottle and turn him into value, but other than that, meh.

I'll be watching some combination of the Blazers, Spurs, and Warriors every night, so it doesn't really big me. Bring on the draft picks.

 

[moly99]

I don't think Turner is bad. I think he can be a contributor if in the right role. But I don't think he's worthwhile for a rebuilding team.

 
Precisely. The best case scenario is that he helps us win another game or two. At this point there's little chance of him becoming a solid starter on a good team.

 

[ifmanis5]

Who says FA won't sign in Boston?

Nicely played.
 
Wait until you see all his terrible shots and no defense; you'll love him. Hopefully this will be a Jordan Crawford 2.0 deal and they can flip him.

 

[Sprowl]

The only thing sticks in my mind about Evan Turner is that he had a Ron Mercer-quality mid-range turnaround jumper. That's pretty high dexterity at a low-value skill.

 

[bowiac]

I'd rather give any minutes we give to Turner to Chris Johnson.
 
The upside is this is supposed to be another good draft...

 

[HomeRunBaker]

I'd rather give any minutes we give to Turner to Chris Johnson.
 

Tomatoe or Tomato?

 

[Cellar-Door]

Among the 74 players with 8,000+ minutes over the last 4 seasons, Evan Turner ranks 74th in PER
https://twitter.com/JLundbladESPN/statuses/491329332649140224

 

[bowiac]

Tomatoe or Tomato?

Tomato.
 
But yeah, that's a good point.

 

[PedroKsBambino]

Unless Stevens feels Turner has been massively misused (and this would be surprising), this one just feels like a shot in the dark on 'perceived upside'
 
Best I could say, if I had to, is that he's a pretty decent passer.  But he's a relatively low-efficiency, ball-dominant guy who isn't good defensively; at anything more than a shot in the dark it makes no sense to me

 

[luckiestman]

Who is making the team? I've got:

Rondo, smart, pressey, Bradley, Thornton, green, turner, Wallace, young, sullinger, Olynyk, bass, zeller.

What is going to happen to faverani?

 

[bowiac]

https://twitter.com/talkingpractice/status/491373579699630082

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Who is making the team? I've got:

Rondo, smart, pressey, Bradley, Thornton, green, turner, Wallace, young, sullinger, Olynyk, bass, zeller.

What is going to happen to faverani?

I'm assuming Ainge will be clearing the roster with a trade or two (Rondo? Green?) but as of today we have 15 players under guaranteed contracts for this comig season. You have to think at least one move will be made as Chris Johnson is going to be on the team.

Rondo
Bradley
Pressey
Smart
Turner
Thornton
Young
Sullinger
Olynyk
Faverani
Bass
Wallace
Green
Anthony
Zeller

 

[mcpickl]

Love this and don't understand the Turner hate.

This is why.
 
https://twitter.com/kirkgoldsberry/status/491330430281322496

 

[Brickowski]

Wow, the Turner hate here is palpable.

It's not often that you can get a #2 overall pick who is relatively young and apparently healthy for a fraction of the MLE. He's been a bust, for sure. And if he continues to be a bust, so what? What budding superstar do the Celtics have at the sf position whose minutes Turner might be taking? Even if the chance he blossoms is <10% the risk is worth it.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Wow, the Turner hate here is palpable.

It's not often that you can get a #2 overall pick who is relatively young and apparently healthy for a fraction of the MLE. He's been a bust, for sure. And if he continues to be a bust, so what? What budding superstar do the Celtics have at the sf position whose minutes Turner might be taking? Even if the chance he blossoms is <10% the risk is worth it.

Turner's college resume which earned him a #2 pick prior to playing in the league as a 22-year old carries zero weight when you have a 4-year and 9,000 minute sample as an NBA player. Were you excited about Darko when we signed him 3 years ago as a former #2 pick?

 

[Brickowski]

I rarely get excited about players who can be had as free agents for a fraction of the MLE.

Would you be upset if Ainge used the rest of his MLE or his biannual exception on Greg Oden? I wouldn't be excited, but I wouldn't be upset either. What's the alternative: use the full MLE on some crappy veteran? They already have crappy veterans like Bass and Wallace. Why add one more?

Or would you prefer Ainge to not use his exceptions at all?

 

[HomeRunBaker]

I rarely get excited about players who can be had as free agents for a fraction of the MLE.

Would you be upset if Ainge used the rest of his MLE or his biannual exception on Greg Oden? I wouldn't be excited, but I wouldn't be upset either. What's the alternative: use the full MLE on some crappy veteran? They already have crappy veterans like Bass and Wallace. Why add one more?

Or would you prefer Ainge to not use his exceptions at all?

No I'm definitely not excited either. If anything this opens the door for a Jeff Green deal as we now have someone other than Crash to play minutes at the 3. It gives Ainge some more options while balancing the roster. I like this move more than the Zeller/Thornton/29th pick for Kardashian/Bayless swap for that reason alone.

 

[mcpickl]

I rarely get excited about players who can be had as free agents for a fraction of the MLE.

Would you be upset if Ainge used the rest of his MLE or his biannual exception on Greg Oden? I wouldn't be excited, but I wouldn't be upset either. What's the alternative: use the full MLE on some crappy veteran? They already have crappy veterans like Bass and Wallace. Why add one more?

Or would you prefer Ainge to not use his exceptions at all?

Exactly. They just did add one more.
 
This is the case against Turner. He's a crappy veteran.
 
He'll play next season at 26 with more than 300 games under his belt.
 
That's not a young player with upside in the NBA. That's a veteran who is who he is.
 
I don't think it's a big deal they signed him either way, though he's probably my least favorite player in the league, but I think the people that see much upside in him at this point are just leaning on that he was the #2 pick in the draft and not much else. His draft position is pretty much irrelevant at this point in my opinion.

 

[Brickowski]

It took Chauncey Billups 5 years to prove he wasn't a bust. Gerald Green failed in Russia before he showed that he could play in the NBA. There are late bloomers in quite a few professional sports.

I'm not making any predictions. Chances are Turner continues to underperform. So what?

 

[HomeRunBaker]

The "so what" for me is that I'd rather watch James Young develop than watch Evan Turner continue to prove how much he sucks. As of right now, there is a blockade of guys ahead of Young on the wing: Green, Turner, Thornton. Hopefully, Danny can alleviate the logjam so that young gets some decent minutes.

Young isn't close to being ready for NBA minutes mentally or physcally and likely won't be for a couple of years. He'll get an opportunity down the road but it won't be this season regardless of who is ahead of him on the depth chart.

 

[moly99]

 Even if the chance he blossoms is <10% the risk is worth it.

 
He isn't any more likely to blossom at this point than your average late 1st/early 2nd round pick. Is it possible that he could turn things around? Sure. But whoever loses his roster spot to Turner is just as likely to blossom.
 
Moreover his skill set isn't that great for a role player. He might be useful as a 3 and d player, but he's not a very good shooter and Indy already tried him in that role and it didn't take.
 

Would you be upset if Ainge used the rest of his MLE or his biannual exception on Greg Oden?

 
It's obviously a different situation since Oden has been good when he has been healthy, whereas Turner has seen a lot of minutes and been poor nearly the whole time.

 

[Klostrophobic]

Sure, Turner sucks but there is some value in having an additional salary on the books that can be used to match up in a potential Kevin Durant trade next off season.

 

[LondonSox]

Well.... He was worth a 2nd round pick, sort of, last year in a trade. So... There's that! You might have bought a second round pick....
Of course you can usually literally buy a second round pick, and that probablyw ill be more useful as it won't cost a roster spot.

 

[moondog80]

Meh. You gotta fill out the roster with somebody.

 

[knucklecup]

It took Chauncey Billups 5 years to prove he wasn't a bust. Gerald Green failed in Russia before he showed that he could play in the NBA. There are late bloomers in quite a few professional sports.

I'm not making any predictions. Chances are Turner continues to underperform. So what?

Exactly. The negativity seems unnecessary to me. There's essentially no risk, all reward here.

RT @SteveBHoop: Evan Turner's agent, David Falk, says they wanted Celtics: "I think the deal here is secondary to the environment."

RT @GwashburnGlobe: Evan Turner's agent, David Falk, said the opportunity to play for Brad Stevens was one of main reasons for signing w #celtics

I like his friendship with Sullinger and the Sullinger family.

I think efficiency stats while playing in two roles that aren't cut out for his skillset (#1 option on one of the worst teams in basketball & back up PG for a team spiraling out of control) doesn't paint the whole picture. For a portion of the MLE and no long term risk, for somebody who actively sought out Stevens, somebody who is buying into the system... this is a no brainer to me.

 

[bowiac]

What roles are cut out for his skillset? What is his skillset?
 
Like basically everything else the Celtics are doing this offseason, this doesn't matter. But Turner's not an "upside" guy even. He was a high pick, but as an "NBA ready" guy. He played three years of college. He's the same age as Michael Beasley, Danilo Gallinari, Kevin Love, etc... He's 2 years younger than Rondo only.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

What roles are cut out for his skillset? What is his skillset?

This is precisely why I wasn't a Turner guy over the past few years. He needs the ball in his hands to be effective yet isn't a good enough player to have the ball in his hands. Defensively he gives effort but the real problem is that he's not good at containing his man at all. There isn't a skill he's plus at and needs to dominate the ball to put up numbers as he's not a spot-up shooter. In some ways Turner is a poor mans Green.

 

[Grin&MartyBarret]

What roles are cut out for his skillset? What is his skillset?
 
Like basically everything else the Celtics are doing this offseason, this doesn't matter. But Turner's not an "upside" guy even. He was a high pick, but as an "NBA ready" guy. He played three years of college. He's the same age as Michael Beasley, Danilo Gallinari, Kevin Love, etc..

 
Yeah, I think the failure of the Turner as a PG experiment was basically the death knell of his career. There was a time when I was actually sort of high on Turner and thought he could turn into an interesting hybrid guard if he was ever given the opportunity to develop as a lead ball handler, but he's had that opportunity now and the skill-set just doesn't seem to be there. I'm really not sure what he is at this point.

 

[ALiveH]

Yeah, Turner at this point is a small-upside JAG.  He's 25.  Sure, he was sort of an interesting prospect / player 2-3 years ago, but by 25 the vast majority of NBA shooting guards / small forwards already are what they are.  The Gerald Green comp is sort of interesting, but he is a very rare case.  Green was considered possibly the most physically talented / skilled player in his draft class but was a bit of a knucklehead / low basketball IQ - he basically got scared straight.
 
Plus, Turner literally has mental issues.  I probably wouldn't want to deal with him on my team.  But if it's true he actively sought out Stevens, that makes it a little interesting.

 

[luckiestman]

Yeah, Turner at this point is a small-upside JAG.  He's 25.  Sure, he was sort of an interesting prospect / player 2-3 years ago, but by 25 the vast majority of NBA shooting guards / small forwards already are what they are.  The Gerald Green comp is sort of interesting, but he is a very rare case.  Green was considered possibly the most physically talented / skilled player in his draft class but was a bit of a knucklehead / low basketball IQ - he basically got scared straight.
 
Plus, Turner literally has mental issues.  I probably wouldn't want to deal with him on my team.  But if it's true he actively sought out Stevens, that makes it a little interesting.

 
 
Do you think it could be because of the Thad Matta connection?