Fantasy Basketball Busts: Myles Turner has inherent risk at a high price point.
Another example of a player who’s more impactful in category leagues than points leagues, Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner is always better in theory than in practice. The reality is that he’s one of the weakest starting centers when it comes to rebounding, and while his blocks average is always helpful, it’s offset by his limited offensive role. He’s not a top scoring option for the Pacers and won’t have the ball in his hands much, capping his average nightly output.
Turner has been involved in trade rumors for several years now and hasn’t yet been shipped to a new destination. He’s stuck between a rock and a hard place in that young teams won’t prioritize him over young stars and competing/contending teams won’t prioritize him since there are more crucial options to run through. Either way, he’s going to be asked to shoot when open, defend the rim and hustle.
If he remains with the Pacers, there’s a legitimate chance of him missing time by virtue of a tank job to bring in one of the star prospects headlining the 2023 NBA Draft class. Plus, the seventh-year center has only played more than 64 games twice in his career thus far, making him a near-lock to miss games for nicks and bruises.
In a vacuum, Turner is an excellent player and certainly deserves to be drafted. I’d be comfortable with him as my starting center so long as the rest of my rotation is favorable. However, he’s perennially overrated in the pre-draft process, leading to disappointment down the road.
Average draft position is 39.9 on Yahoo, 74.7 on ESPN.