Myles Turner vs fellow 2015 NBA draftees

The 2015 NBA Draft has proven to be a loaded draft class. How does Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner compare to some of his fellow draftees?

Karl-Anthony Towns. Kristaps Porzingis. Devin Booker. D’Angelo Russell. Those are some of the big names that headlined the 2015 NBA Draft. Let’s stick with the big men, though, and see how Myles Turner matches up with them.

Karl-Anthony Towns

Towns, rightfully so, has had the best first two years among his fellow draftees. His Minnesota Timberwolves haven’t yet made the playoffs with him, but that could definitely change next year. Towns has put up some monster numbers.

Efficiency

When you look at Myles Turner, you see a big man that is efficient from the field, despite the fact that he takes a lot of jump shots. So, that’s impressive. However, Karl-Anthony Towns has him beat on efficiency. In fact, Towns has higher career percentages than Turner in field goal percentage, 3-point percentage and free-throw percentage.

Towns: 54.2 field goal percentage, 36.1 3-point percentage, 82.4 free-throw percentage.

Turner: 50.6 field goal percentage, 33.3 3-point percentage, 78.5 free-throw percentage.

Towns, like Turner, is a big man who shoots plenty of jumpers. Give credit where credit is due, Towns is an unbelievably talented basketball player. He averaged a whopping 25.1 points per game last season. Turner was well below, at 14.5.

Defense

Believe it or not, Towns does have some flaws. He hasn’t exactly established himself as a good defensive player yet in the NBA. On the other hand, Turner has proven to be one of the most promising defensive centers in the league.

Turner ranked 15th last season among centers in Defensive Real Plus-Minus with a +2.57. Towns did not even rank among the top 40 centers in that statistic.

Turner also blocked 2.1 shots per game last season, compared to Towns’ 1.3.

Towns has been the primary option for the Minnesota Timberwolves over the last few years. He’s better on offense, but Turner is better on defense. We’ll see how much better Turner can matchup with Towns next season, where he’ll be the primary scoring option.

Kristaps Porzingis

The Porzingis vs Turner match-up is easily the closest one. They’re both skinnier big men who shoot a lot of jumpers.

Efficiency/Opportunity

Unlike how it was for Turner vs Towns, Turner is much more efficient than Porzingis. Porzingis hasn’t shot above 50 percent in a season yet. He’s a career 43.6 percent shooter from the field, which is very low for a big man, let alone a 7-foot-3 giant. As mentioned before, Turner is a career 50.6 percent shooter.

I firmly believe that if Turner got the amount of shot attempts as Porzingis, and if Kristaps didn’t play in New York, a lot of people would be calling Turner the better player. Turner only averaged 10.7 shots per game last season. Porzingis averaged about 15 per game. That’s a sizable difference. When Turner took at least 15 shots last season, he averaged 20.1 points per game on 51.1 percent shooting. Porzingis averaged 18.1 per game with those 15 shots throughout the entire season.

Defense

Turner and Porzingis are both two-way players. It’s a much closer comparison on the defensive end than it was for Turner vs Towns. Turner has Porzingis beat with the Defensive Real Plus-Minus. Turner recorded the +2.57. Porzingis ranked 18th among power forwards with a +1.90.

They both blocked about the same amount of shots per game last year. Porzingis averaged 2.0, while Turner averaged 2.1 per game.

All in all, I believe Myles Turner could prove he’s the better player by being the top option for the Pacers next year. These two will be going at it, neck and neck for the rest of their careers. Which is ironic, considering the classic Knicks/Pacers rivalries.

Frank Kaminsky

You’ve got to wonder if the Pacers would have selected Frank Kaminsky in the 2015 NBA Draft if he was available. He worked out for the Pacers, in the same workout as Myles Turner. Thankfully for the Pacers, the Charlotte Hornets took Frank.

Offense

We’ll keep it simple for this matchup: offense and defense. Turner has proven to be clearly better in both areas. Kaminsky has averaged 9.5 points per game as an NBA player on 40.3 percent shooting. Turner has averaged 12.7 points on 50.6 percent shooting. Turner is a more efficient scorer, by far.

Defense

Kaminsky wasn’t known for his defense in college, and he hasn’t made his presence felt on that end of the court in the NBA. Turner, as mentioned before, is a great two-way player.

Kaminsky has averaged 0.5 blocks per game as an NBA player. He also didn’t rank in the top 40 among power forwards in the Defensive Real Plus-Minus. Also, Turner is three years younger than Frank. It’s safe to say he’s the better player now and should be throughout the rest of his career.

Next: Myles Turner kinda reminds you of...

The 2015 NBA Draft was filled with talent. The Pacers are really lucky they were able to snag Turner with the 11th pick. If you re-draft, Turner’s looking at a top-five selection.