Sports Illustrated’s The Crossover released the first batch of players in their Top 100 NBA Players of 2018 rankings, placing Indiana Pacers cornerstone Myles Turner at 68th.
I should probably have a better introduction to this post, but that can wait. 68th? Are you kidding me?
The Crossover’s Top 100 NBA players list, released annually by dynamite writers Ben Golliver and Rob Mahoney, was made public on Monday, or at least the latter half was. I figured we’d see Victor Oladipo’s and maybe Thaddeus Young’s name pop up, but I was confident we’d have to wait a few more days to talk about Myles Turner’s place in the list.
I was wrong. Turner was given the 68th spot in the countdown, behind players like Marcin Gortat, Devin Booker, Trevor Ariza and Andre Drummond. Kristaps Porzingis, who is better than Myles Turner, is ranked 33rd. He’s not 35 spots worse than Porzingis.
Here’s what Ben Golliver had to say about Turner:
"In just two seasons, Turner has dealt with a coaching change, a front-office shake-up, a position switch, a point-guard carousel, and the departure of his team’s franchise player. Through it all, the 2015 lottery pick has done an admirable job of rolling with the punches as he settles into life as a two-way impact starting center. With an outside-in offensive game and excellent shot-blocking instincts, the 21-year-old Turner projects as the rebuilding Pacers’ highest priority next season."
Looks great so far. Let’s keep reading.
"Turner is not yet ready to take the reins from Paul George as The Man given his limited low-post arsenal and still-developing frame, but the oft-cited comparisons to fellow Texas product LaMarcus Aldridge look increasingly apt. He’s got a smooth shooting stroke, excellent length and a good motor, and he led the Pacers’ regular rotation players with a +3.2 net rating. Although Turner (14.5 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 1.3 APG) might still be two years away from possessing the strength necessary to be an imposing low-post isolation defender and go-to scorer on the block, he’s clearly ahead of schedule compared to most young bigs. Despite Turner’s disappointing showing in Indiana’s humbling first-round loss to Cleveland, there are only a few other 22-and-under centers—Karl-Anthony Towns, Nikola Jokic and Kristaps Porzingis—with higher ceilings."
Just off of this short blurb, it seems like Turner’s main drawbacks are his lack of a post game and iso defense on the block. Are those two things really enough to put him so far behind other players of his ilk? I for one don’t want Turner to improve his post game if it means he’s putting the rest of his development on the back burner. That’s not the thing keeping him from making a leap.
I think Golliver and Mahoney are two of the sharpest basketball writers and thinkers on the internet right now. Mahoney’s podcast, Breakaway, was groundbreaking and awesome to listen to, and Golliver is one half of the Open Floor podcast, which is probably my favorite listen of the week.
That said, I’ve got some questions about this placement. I’m willing to listen to an argument about why Myles Turner belongs behind 67 other players, I just don’t think I’ve gotten it yet. The fact that he isn’t Al Jefferson on the block isn’t enough to justify putting him this low.
Turner is far from a perfect player. His 3-point confidence still isn’t quite where it should be, and he struggles to put the ball on the floor when he needs to. However, he has real tangible skills on both ends of the floor, and that alone should put him ahead of several names lower on this list.
Next: Victor Oladipo ranks 77th on SI's Top 100
It looks like Myles Turner has some extra motivation this season.