Indiana Pacers: 4 Players that will see more playing time in the NBA Playoffs
By Josh Wilson
Myles Turner’s defensive presence would be huge for Pacers in playoffs
Myles Turner is a defensive anchor, and it’s good that the Pacers didn’t trade him at the deadline, despite the likelihood that they could have.
If the return for Andre Drummond was any indication, big men were not going to bring back much value at the deadline this year.
Turner offers legitimate defensive anchoring and is a failsafe for players like Doug McDermott that the Pacers may want to play more in the playoffs. When the perimeter defense fails, having Turner at the rim is a huge benefit.
He can’t stop everything, but he sure can try. Forcing nearly 11 percent worse shooting within 6 feet of the rim for opponents, he’s been big on that end.
Related Story. Pacers were right to not trade Turner at deadline. light
On the offensive end, Turner has definitely had a lackluster season compared to his standard production. A good amount of that has to do with a role change, now spending so much time on the perimeter to make room for Domantas Sabonis who joined him in the starting lineup this year.
Statistics show that there has been a legitimate reason to believe that Turner’s willingness to take the outside shot positively impacts the net rating of Sabonis and Turner together. In the playoffs, you want your best players on the floor, and Turner and Sabonis may spend more time together than they have in the regular season.
Turner played fewer than 30 minutes per game this season, seeing 31.5 in last year’s playoffs. It may be a slight increase, but he’d likely see more minutes in general and especially more in lineups alongside Sabonis this postseason.