Getty Images
The Indiana Pacers were on the clock with the No. 11 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, and had a need at quite a few positions. Myles Turner ended up being the pick for them, and was a major disappointment for quite a few fans with Murray State point guard Cameron Payne on the board.
The Indiana Pacers will select Texas center Myles Turner with the No. 11 pick in the NBA Draft, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 26, 2015
While the pick makes sense with the news that David West decided to opt out of his contract and Roy Hibbert‘s recent struggles, it is a pick that will end up haunting the Pacers long-term.
First of all, the Pacers are wanting to play a faster offensive pace during the 2015-16 season. Larry Bird made it clear that Hibbert wouldn’t fit into their plans, but drafting a lumbering big like Turner makes zero sense. Turner has an awkward running style that will not fit into the up-tempo system that the Pacers want to run, and he is more weak than Hibbert is inside.
Drafting an electric point guard like Payne would have made much more sense for the style that the Pacers want to play. Instead, the Pacers are undergoing another project in Turner and likely won’t see him play to a championship-caliber level for a few seasons if he ever develops into that type of a player.
Larry Bird has been known to miss with his first-round picks, and this is just another one to add to that list. Tyler Hansbrough, Miles Plumlee and even the infamous trade to bring Hibbert to the Pacers have all been a bit embarrassing for the franchise. Turner will have a better chance to succeed than either Hansbrough or Plumlee did, but he certainly isn’t going to be a franchise caliber center.
During his 2014-15 season with the Texas Longhorns, Turner ended up averaging 10.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game. He shot 45.5 percent from the floor overall and 27.4 percent from behind the three-point arc.
There are quite a few areas where Turner has to improve in order to become a legitimate NBA player, but there is some raw potential to work with. It will be interesting to see what the Pacers do throughout the rest of the offseason, but at this point in time, the Pacers are going to look back and regret passing on Payne.
Evan Massey is a featured writer for www.RantSports.com, and contributes across the NFL, MLB, NCAA and NBA portions of the site. Follow him on Twitter at @Massey_Evan and like him on Facebook.
