NBA Rumors: Pacers Center Myles Turner Reportedly Drew Interest From Multiple Teams
At just 23-years-old, Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner has established himself as one of the NBA’s more talented young big men. With averages of 13.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, and a league-leading 2.7 blocks, as well as a solid 38.8 percent three-point shooting clip last season, the former University of Texas standout checks most of the boxes as a modern-day NBA center. But with teammate Domantas Sabonis also making his name as an up-and-coming star at both power forward and center positions, it appears that a number of NBA teams have recently shown some interest in Turner.
Citing league sources, SportsNet New York‘s Ian Begley reported late last week that multiple rival teams made inquiries with the Pacers about Turner, both before and after this year’s NBA Draft. While Begley stressed that it isn’t clear whether these talks made much progress or not, he added that some of these teams “came away with the impression that it would take an incredibly significant offer” to lure Turner away from Indiana.
As further noted, the recent rumors on Myles Turner came a few weeks after ESPN reported that the Pacers “flat-out” rejected offers for Turner during last month’s rookie draft. Likewise, J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star (via ClutchPoints) wrote before the draft that the Pacers had no plans to trade Turner, given his versatile skill set as a young center who could excel on defense and as an outside shooter.
Pacers received calls for Myles Turner but decided not to trade him https://t.co/Hr94puiROM
— Chris W. Crouse (@ChrisWCrouse) July 30, 2019
After making good progress with the Pacers as the 11th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, Turner signed a four-year, $72 million contract extension with the team in October 2018, according to Sporting News. The publication, however, warned that he could soon become expendable, as the aforementioned Domantas Sabonis – who, interestingly, was picked at No. 11 the year after Turner – is entering the final year of his rookie contract.
In his third year in the league, Sabonis averaged 14.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 2.9 assists and shot 59 percent from the field for the Pacers while mostly playing a sixth man role in the 2018-19 season, per Basketball-Reference. However, he is expected to start alongside Turner in the coming 2019-20 campaign, as previously teased by Pacers head coach Nate McMillan.
As suggested by Indiana’s apparent willingness to hold on to Turner despite the multiple offers, it seems that the team sees him as an important part of its core lineup, especially as the Pacers hope to make big steps after getting swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of this year’s playoffs. At the moment, the Pacers are also looking forward to the return of star shooting guard Victor Oladipo from injury, as well as the debuts of Jeremy Lamb, T.J. Warren, and Malcolm Brogdon, who were all acquired as part of the team’s 2019 offseason overhaul.
