Indiana Pacers: 2017-18 player grades for Myles Turner

Strengths

The per 36 minute stats that Turner put up this year, at his age, are even rarer than you think. In the history of the league, only he and a first-year Kristaps Porzingis pulled off the 16/8/2/1 feat in their age-21 or younger seasons, according to Basketball-Reference. The even better news is that the combo platter of rim protection and 3-point shooting that makes this accomplishment so rare is a dish Turner only seems to be getting better at making.

While many of his stats have failed to improve in any meaningful way over his three years in the league, his 3-point shooting is one that has. After taking only 14 3s as a rookie, Turner attempted 1.4 per game last season and 2.4 this year. Even better, he’s getting more accurate, hitting 35 percent from long range for the first time. That’s not good enough to be considered a threat, but it’s close.

On the other end, he finished fifth in the league in blocks per game and had a 3.4 percent block rate, which was among the top 10 percent of all big men in the NBA, according to Cleaning the Glass. Opponents also shot 3.9 percent fewer shots at the rim and were 5.3 percent less accurate when they took those shots. Both numbers were also top 10 percent.

When you factor in that Turner was in and out of the lineup all year due to assorted maladies, you could make the argument that this was just about worst year he could have had because he was never able to get into a groove. It’s not unreasonable to think the jump many expected him to make this year is still going to come once he’s able to stay on the floor with more consistency.