Should Boston Celtics Re-Sign Evan Turner?
Evan Turner had a pretty good season for the Boston Celtics this season and even received some consideration for Sixth Man of the Year, but should the Celtics re-sign the combo guard who will be expecting a big pay raise?
Evan Turner is going to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason since his two-year $6.7 million contract is coming to an end. The Boston Celtics and coach Brad Stevens have made it clear that he wants to see Turner back in a Celtics’ uniform, but it might be hard to re-sign him because other teams are also interested in Turner.
Turner averaged 10.5 points, 4.4 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game this season and he averaged 13.2 points per game in the postseason. He became the Celtics’ best bench player this season and one of the most reliable scorers on the team (fourth on the team in overall field goal percentage at 45.6 percent).
He had the best overall field goal percentage among guards on the team and he played pretty good defense this year for the Celtics as well. If Isaiah Thomas was having an off night for some reason, Turner would turn into the primary facilitator, which is why he was so valuable for this Boston team.
Some team in the NBA might pay Turner a lot of money in the offseason, and unless he takes a discount, the Celtics should not pay a crazy amount for the combo-guard. Turner was a big key to Boston’s success this past season, which is why the team is going to try to re-sign him, but a lot of teams could be making a move for Turner in the offseason.
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Turner’s Outlook
Evan Turner certainly made a name for himself this season as a playmaking combo-guard, which is why teams like the New York Knicks are interested in Turner and he could be expecting a big pay day. The Celtics probably will not re-sign Turner because he is going to be expecting a bigger contract and because the Celtics are going to try and sign a star free agent.
Turner could be worth it if the Celtics do not find that free agent this offseason, but the team also has to think long-term, especially if they sign him to a longer deal.
Jared Sullinger and Tyler Zeller are free agents as well, which probably means that not all of the Celtics’ free agents will be re-signed. Turner is definitely the top priority for the Celtics in terms of re-signing free agents because the team does not have much use for Zeller or Sullinger anymore.
It is going to be interesting to see what the Celtics do because they have plenty of salary cap room to sign Turner for more money, but they might want to save some of that space for future free agents that will cost a lot more than Turner.
Overall
The Celtics probably won’t re-sign Turner unless he takes a discounted contract and many of the free agents they want head elsewhere. Turner was great for the Celtics last season, but the team needs to make a splash this offseason in free agency or with trades because the roster they have right now is still far from being a championship contending roster.
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Re-signing Turner is not going to make the Celtics much better, but it would be nice to have him at a discounted rate along with other new free agents for next season.