Former Boston Celtic Evan Turner could be a buyout candidate, reports the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn — should his former team be keeping tabs?
A fan favorite in the rebuilding years after the Banner 17 core had mostly been traded to the Brooklyn Nets for the draft assets that would become this iteration of the team, Turner has since gone on to enjoy the windfall (if not success) his time in Boston created.
One of head coach Brad Stevens first career rehabilitations, former No. 2 overall pick Turner had fallen from grace, failing to become the star many had hoped for with the Indiana Pacers after being traded there from the Philadelphia 76ers.
Failing to replicate the 17.4-point, 6-rebound per game season he had in his last season with Philly, the Pacers let Turner walk, providing the Celtics a bargain-basement chance to see what the Chicago native might still have in the tank.
Evan Turner is not active tonight for the #Hawks and said the team talked to him and Chandler Parsons, who has played in six games this season, about being inactive for the foreseeable future as ATL goes with younger players. Turner is a definitely buyout candidate.
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) January 3, 2020
While Turner didn’t blossom into the protostar he was with the 76ers, he did shine enough that the Portland Trail Blazers inked the Ohio State product in 2016 with a four-season, $70 million offer emblematic of the heady spending of that offseason, flush with cap space from a recent NBA broadcast deal.
Since then, he’s been sent to the Atlanta Hawks to account for the fact that his production has been far below the level of his paycheck, and now he’s been asked to sit as the franchise develops younger players (who will conveniently also stink, helping the team improve its draft odds).
It’s hard to gauge how helpful Turner could be if he were cut free in time to latch on to another team given his situation over the last few seasons, but it’s not inconceivable he’d be a valuable depth piece for a team like Boston that depends on wing play.
And as wise basketball minds have noted, an injury to a starting wing at a key moment in the postseason could spell disaster for the Celtics, so adding a veteran wing who is familiar with Stevens’ approach would not be the worst plan for an organization with eyes on a deep playoff run.
Turner hasn’t had much of a role over the last few seasons, but also hasn’t really minded, as he related ahead of Friday’s win over the Hawks, saying (via MassLive’s John Karalis),” It’s my tenth year so I’m on the side … I’ve been everywhere, sitting here getting fat, happy and rich.”
“We have a lot of young, talented guys that could turn out to be something in time,” Turner offered courtesy of the Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach. “It’s just their time to really learn and sharpen their blade in that sense.”
Not exactly a hungry mouth, though that could be a good thing in light of how last season turned out — the question is how motivated he’d be if the team actually needed his production. “Everything will work out the way it’s supposed to work out,” he added. “I’m not really too pressed … All you can do is stay ready and control what I can control.”
He logged 6.8 points, 4.5 boards, and 3.9 assists per contest over 22 minutes a game in his last season in Portland. While he’s playing 10 minutes less per game with the Hawks in 2019-20, his per-36 numbers don’t show much of a drop-off as a result of the demotion.
Evan Turner gets his own welcome back printout posted outside the Hawks locker room tonight pic.twitter.com/2jOcWA5toN
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) January 3, 2020
As has been an issue for most of his career, Turner’s shooting — especially beyond the arc — is a problem. He has always been worse the further from the basket you go, and bad to atrocious from three.
His best since leaving the Celtics he hit 31.8 % of his 3-pointers in his penultimate season with the Blazers — but just 21.1 % the season after. He’s only attempted five treys this year (making none), so Turner won’t help Boston’s spacing, but his lack of attempts is at least reassuring.
ET can function as a secondary ballhandler, and is still a respectable offensive threat with enough tools that he can add scoring on second units while also fitting in on offense-heavy first units in short stints.
He defends well enough when engaged, and could be an intriguing buy-out option for a Boston reunion should the Hawks decide to part ways with the nine-year veteran if no trade target could use his expiring deal as ballast.
With so many teams lacking cap space for summer, it’s hard to say whether Turner’s current deal would be an attractive way to clear space in what looks to be a very dull free agency period, but something to monitor nonetheless.