Are the Lakers still robbing it? The black and hard center has 3 Ds, but he doesn’t want to be just a green leaf, and bluntly wants the ball.

With the news that the Pacers will be rebuilding broke out, Miles Turner, the sweet pastry, was unsurprisingly pushed to the forefront of the deal, and in fact, this is not the first time he has been put on the shelf.

In the offseason last year, the Celtics and Pacers promoted a transaction with Turner as the main body, and even Turner himself thought he was going to Boston. Even when he was in the US team, he had active communication with Tatum, Jaylen and Smart. But in the end the trade fell through, and Hayward jumped out of the contract "cruelly" and joined the Hornets as a free agent, while Turner stayed with the Pacers.

Even so, Turner still played a very good performance last season, became the league's block king, is a top basket guard who can compare with Rudy Gobert.

This is the epitome of Miles Turner's career. He is dedicated to his work, but he is only regarded as a tool man by his team. Even though he is deeply involved in trade rumors every season, as long as he is in Indiana, he will do what the coaching staff asks him to do.

Turner, who entered the league with the eleventh overall pick, was naturally not trained as a blue-collar center at the beginning. Both management, coaches and fans expect him to become a star power forward who can independently develop offense. Even McMillan, who had coached Adelaide for the Blazers, said bluntly: "Turner and Adelaide are very similar, like clones."

In a sense, Turner and Adelaide a few years ago are indeed very similar. This is not only because they both graduated from the University of Texas, they are both tall and arm-length 4s, but also because they all like to shoot distance, and they are not very aggressive, attacking and committing fouls at the basket. Neither aspect is good enough.

Although Turner and Adelaide were similar in their mid-range shot frequency, there was one essential difference between the two, that is, Adelaide carried more possessions. Most of Adelaide’s mid-range turn-over jumpers were “forced to open” the ball when his teammates were unable to develop good offensive opportunities, and his skills were really good, and he was able to become a team when the team couldn’t start the game. Hard solution. In fact, not many people in the entire league can do this, and Turner is far from this level. This is why Adelaide is a very positive offensive player, while Turner is a very detrimental player.
After observing the rookie season, the Pacers’ management seems to understand that in the context of modern basketball, the role positioning similar to Ade requires a high degree of technical completion to control, so they pushed Turner from the fourth position. The center position has been reduced and his offensive role has been reduced. The frequency of his back has dropped sharply from 3.7 to 1.5 shots per 36 minutes, and his mid-range shots have also been reduced by 1/3 (from 9 to 6.3 shots per 36 minutes).

In this way, Turner was positioned like this for the first 4 years of his career. Since the pick-and-roll prefers to move out rather than down, and the range of the move does not reach the three-point line, Turner will still shoot a large part of the mid-range. It is precisely this way, Turner's offensive efficiency has always been just hovering near the average line.

However, with the rise of Saskatchewan, the Pacers are facing happiness troubles. How to choose between the two big players is a big problem. In the end, the Pacers did not deal with Turner and Saskatchewan like the Nuggets dealt with Jodzic and Nurkic. They chose to keep both players.
For centers, only frequent screens can maximize offensive value. If two centers are on the field at the same time, one person must not be able to participate in the screen. The Pacers’ choice is to sacrifice Turner’s tactical position-because Saskatchewan has a stronger finishing ability and far better than Turner’s. The ball handling skills, coupled with the efficiency of Sao Sa's non-basket area, is completely impossible to see, and Turner's functionality in shooting can just make up for Sao Sa's shortcomings.

Turner was willing to make sacrifices for the team at the time. He said: "I was arranged as a player who opened up space on the court. Generally, I was arranged in the corner instead of actively attacking. But I think more about it. It is the team, not myself. I am willing to make the best choice for the team."

Therefore, Turner began to shoot more and more outside the three-point line. But despite this, Turner's performance as a space point is difficult to qualify. The Pacers let him open up the space is only wishful thinking, opponents are more willing to choose to empty him to protect the basket. In the past two years, he only made less than 35% of his three-pointers when more than 70% of his shots came from open positions.

However, compared with the struggle on the offensive end, Turner has grown step by step on the defensive end to become one of the strongest frame guards in the league. His block rate has been at the top of the league for three consecutive years. You can often see There are players with unclear brains who want to challenge Turner, and Turner will use a big hot pot to make these people leave in disgrace.

At the same time, Turner is definitely not the kind of player who is obsessed with blocking shots. In addition to blocking blocks, his frame protection data is also very good. Last year Turner ranked first in the league in the number of frame protections per 36 minutes, and ranked fifth in the league in limiting opponents' field goal percentage. When he is on the court, the opponent's basket frequency and shooting rate will be greatly reduced.

Are the Lakers still robbing it? The black and hard center has 3 Ds, but he doesn’t want to be just a green leaf, and bluntly wants the ball.

It's just that the frontal frame protector can't distinguish between excellent frame protectors and elite frame protectors. Turner, as one of the strongest frame protectors in the league, his mobility far beyond his size is his biggest advantage.

Turner is different from other squat centers in that he can mention a relatively high position when preventing the pick-and-roll. He can immediately recover after interfering with the ball-hander's phone meeting and can then defend the ball-hander and the line.

But unlike the average blue-collar center, Turner's rebounding ability is unqualified because of his thin body and lack of card position skills. Amazingly, this season Turner has turned into an excellent backboard protector. With a small sample, his backcourt influence ranked 58th in the league. You must know that his backcourt rebounds last year was almost the bottom of the league. 58 bits.

Along with the protection of rebounds, his offense has also improved. This season is the first season of his career that can play an active role on the offensive end. After three coaching changes in the last three seasons, Turner got a brand new opportunity in the last time.

Carlisle staggered the timing of Sa and Turner in the rotation. When Turner and Sao Paulo were on the court at the same time, he continued to be the team's fourth position on the offensive end; and when Sao Sa was off the court, Carlisle let Turner play the role of Sao Sa in the lineup.

Although this is Turner's seventh season after entering the league, he is actually only 25 years old.

Are the Lakers still robbing it? The black and hard center has 3 Ds, but he doesn’t want to be just a green leaf, and bluntly wants the ball.

Turner said: "I hate being labeled as a finished product in the 7th year of my career. I want to prove that I am not a solid player. I just polished the surface. Now I am ready to take the next step. I have shown my potential this season and I am ready to transform into a bigger role."

Turner’s words are true. Not only did he gain unprecedented confidence this season, he also made huge improvements in shooting. Both the basket, the mid-range and the three-point range from beyond the three-point line have reached the best level of his career, and he averaged shots per game. With 4.7 three-pointers and 39.8% shooting, he began to be respected by defenders.

In the second game of the season against the Wizards, he scored a career high 40 points on 15 of 22 shots. Two weeks later, he scored a career-high 7 goals in a game against the Knicks with 70% three-pointers. Opponents are beginning to realize the threat of Turner on the offensive end. They dare not to neglect any more, and the emphasis on his defense is gradually increasing.

After playing such a performance, Turner also naturally had confidence. Therefore, when the Pacers announced the reconstruction this time, Turner did not choose to remain silent, but began to express his dissatisfaction with the offensive positioning to reporters.

"I am only regarded as a good role player, and I want more opportunities." "I know my value and I value myself very much." "It's time to make a change. I want to improve my presence on the court." feel."

It is of course reasonable for Turner to express this dissatisfaction. In recent seasons, Turner's round share has declined year by year, and his chances of participating in tactics have become less and less. There is a deviation from many people's perceptions. Turner is definitely not because of his lack of ability to participate in tactics. He said that his pick-and-roll ability is not enough and it is also the same as another insider of the same team, Sabi.

In the last two seasons, when Sao Sa is not on the court and Turner is the first screener, his possession rate and true shooting percentage will increase because he has more opportunities to go to the basket.

Are the Lakers still robbing it? The black and hard center has 3 Ds, but he doesn’t want to be just a green leaf, and bluntly wants the ball.

However, according to the current news and speculations from all parties, the Lakers, Knicks, Warriors and other teams that Turner’s potential home will have a four-position attacker or first screener. It seems that most teams only I want Turner to continue to be the 3D center who can defend and shoot.

This is actually inconsistent with the role Turner expects: "I have proven that I can perform any role assigned to me by the team, and now, I think I should combine these skills to become an offensive end. Someone who gets more possessions every night, not a pitcher who lives in the shadows."

Of course, what makes Turner determined to leave is not just because of his role-his contract will expire next season, he needs to show himself more and seize the opportunity to get a big contract.

Are the Lakers still robbing it? The black and hard center has 3 Ds, but he doesn’t want to be just a green leaf, and bluntly wants the ball.

This time, can Miles Turner, who is unwilling to be a tool man, get rid of his fate of being a tool man?