Pacers cornerstone Myles Turner continues to be ambiguous about his relationship with the 3-point line, much to all of our chagrin.
Myles Turner is coming into his third season in the NBA, and his first as the best player on the team. We’re not alone in our excitement about his potential. We devoted an entire week to him back in August.
One of the most enticing aspects of Turner’s game is his growing 3-point shot. Having a center that can space the floor, especially if that center can also man the back line on the other end, can completely alter the trajectory of an NBA team.
The Pacers held their first practice of the season on Tuesday, and Turner reportedly put up a few extra long bombs after things wrapped up, according to Pat Boylan of FS1.
Turner spending a lot of time at the 3 point line after practice. Just hit 14 of 15. pic.twitter.com/dSm0QlgFGJ
— Pat Boylan (@PatBoylanPacers) September 26, 2017
Obviously, take all of this with a grain of salt. If there isn’t a video of you online sinking 3 after 3 in an empty gym, are you even an NBA big man?
Still, it’s encouraging to see that Turner is focusing on the long ball as a part of his development. Not too much, though, according to Jon LaFollete of NUVO and the Miller Time Podcast.
Still, he should be taking more than the 1.4 he averaged per game a season ago. It's more valuable to have your bigs shoot 3s. Fire away.
— Jon R. LaFollette (@JonLawFilet) September 26, 2017
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I’m ok with 3-pointers not being Turner’s “go-to,” as long he doesn’t opt for inefficient 20-footers instead. Turner took only 13.4 percent of his shots from downtown last season, and I think it’s safe to say there’s plenty of room to increase that figure without approaching go-to status.
I won’t spend a lot of time pontificating about the importance of Turner adding a higher volume of 3s to his game because I think we’ve hit that pretty hard this summer. In short, three is more two.
One thing Turner will have plenty of this season is opportunity, so it’s very possible that he manages to let fly more often from 3-point range without actually increasing the percentage of his shots from 3, simply because he’s taking more shots everywhere.
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I wouldn’t be mad at it.