Is Myles Turner The Indiana Pacers’ Answer At Center?

The Indiana Pacers had an up-and-down season to say the least, with the team getting off to a horrible start in large part to the near season-long injury to star forward Paul George. But they recovered and made a serious push to get into the playoffs, only to fall short while finishing with a 38-44 record.

One player for the team that really didn’t help in the cause was center Roy Hibbert, who has continued to decline after being looked at as a potential franchise center just two years ago.

Hibbert has never been a huge offensive talent down low, only averaging 11.1 points per game for his career, but his rebounding numbers have never been impressive for a big man at 6.8 per game. His lack of mobility has also been a concern at times because the team already doesn’t play at a more up-and-down pace thanks to the presence of power forward David West. Add in another non-mobile big like Hibbert and it slows the team down significantly.

Where Hibbert was viewed highly was on the defensive end, particularly with his rim protection. His 2.6 blocks average per 36 minutes for his career is impressive for any player in the NBA, as teams have had to game plan around his presence down low and have ultimately not driven as much at the basket when he’s been on the floor compared to other big men in the league.

However, with Hibbert on the decline, it seems that team president Larry Bird is ready to go in a different direction at center, indicating that his playing time will be cut moving forward.

“We assume he’s going to be back and if he comes back, we’re probably going to play another style,” said Bird to the media at the Pacers’ season-ending press conference. “And I can’t guarantee him anything. He’s going to have to earn it.”

Pacers head coach Frank Vogel also offered his thoughts on the situation when asked about Hibbert potentially being benched in favor of a different player at center, with him responding, “Yeah, potentially.”

With Indiana now being in the market for a new starting center, there could actually be an option hidden within the 2015 NBA draft class that could really be a difference maker, especially in a few years.

His name? Myles Turner.

Turner was a center at Texas last season who put up some fairly big numbers when looking at his per 40 minute averages, where he put up 18.3 points, 11.8 rebounds and 4.7 blocks per game on 45.5 percent shooting from the floor.

While he wasn’t the team’s focus at center, Turner was very effective when he got the playing time. His unique combination of size and shooting touch could be very enticing for a team looking to score more points and open up the floor with more spacing.

Turner wouldn’t take much away from Indiana on the defensive end, as he could prove to be as good as if not better on that side of the ball. Turner has the length and defensive IQ to recognize the angles at which the offense is coming at him and ultimately stop any serious attempts at the rim.

Offensively, Turner loves to spot up and shoot from range, be it from the high post or even from beyond the three-point line. Turner only shot 27.4 percent from the college three-point line last season, but his stroke isn’t broken, and with more improvement and practice he should be able to eventually become a stretch big for whichever NBA team drafts him.

The good news for Turner’s potential as a pick-and-pop big man is that he converted on 51.3 percent of his two-point attempts despite a lot of his shots being from the mid-range and not from around the post area. Turner will need to continue to develop some go-to moves down low, but at the very least he should be able to come in and spread the floor right away for his team.

Even though Turner isn’t the most mobile big man out there, he’s still athletic enough to be considered a better option in that area than Hibbert. Scouts have had concern about his stride running the floor, but no one has said it’s ultimately going to make or break his career as there are so many other things he does well that feed into his long-term potential.

Will Turner have to keep improving physically and become better at scoring down low? Absolutely. Big men coming into the league usually have issues with those two areas as the size in the NBA is completely different from in college or even overseas in some areas. The athleticism in the league is second to none, meaning that any rookie is going to have to work to get up to speed.

What the Pacers could have in Turner is a skilled big man capable of coming in and making an impact on both ends, even though it may be a small one to start. The Pacers will still likely have Hibbert on the team, meaning that Turner wouldn’t exactly have to come in and average over 30 minutes per game. He could receive quality playing time while still being able to sit back at times and study and learn the NBA game.

For a team that’s looking to take the next step and contend for a championship, the Pacers must address the center position, and with where they’re picking at the 11th spot, there may not be a better option for them than Turner. Over time, he could develop into one of the best two-way prospects in the class, something that the Pacers have and will continue to value over the years.

He’s not without his flaws, but gambling on Turner seems like the Pacers’ best bet to improving both now and in the future without having to break their wallets open for a new center via free agency or trade.

*Statistics courtesy of Basketball-Reference.

Next: No Reason For Pacers To Upgrade At Point Guard

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