Indiana Pacers Profile: The untapped potential of big man Myles Turner

Weaknesses

Turner, despite this immense talent, still has skills and physical attributes that need to be fully developed to reach his high-level potential.

Defense: Beautiful, Yet Flawed

Although Myles is a dominant shot-blocker and developing wing defender, his defense isn’t exactly perfect. This is magnified against what you would define as the bulldozers of the NBA: think the Joel Embiid-esque post players.

Due to sub-par lower body strength, Turner has a tendency of losing possessions against big-bodied, traditional centers who get their buckets within five feet. At times, he seems to struggle against bigger guards who make contact before finishing, but that seems to be an issue with even the greatest rim protectors.

In all honesty, I don’t think it’s as big of a deal as you may assume, and since post-ups are becoming one of the most inefficient possession types in the game due to the pace slowing it brings, the post-ups could actually be another win.

Although he is a serviceable wing defender, by no means is he keeping up with savvy bucket creators like Steph Curry, Trae Young, Luka Doncic, etc. Let’s be honest though, there aren’t tons of players in the league who consistently stop those guys anyway.

Offense: Despite Spacing, Can Be A Negative

Despite the previously mentioned spacing and net ripping that can come from the former Longhorn, and his solid closeout attacking, Myles is lacking in a lot of other offensive skills.

First and foremost, Turner isn’t a great finisher for his size, and this is via a consistent unwillingness to use his body on slashes to the basket. He is quite skilled for a big and has probably above average handles for the position, but it’s hard to show that valuable skill when his finishing is still underdeveloped.

As a post-up player, while he is a sometimes unblockable fade away shooter, the rest of his post game isn’t effective due to his lack of lower body power. He isn’t an awful passer, but he definitely misses the open man a tad too often and at times it isn’t his first look.

It should go without saying, but he isn’t yet developed enough skill-wise in the art of shot creation, and a lot of Turner’s buckets will most likely be assisted this year.

So what do all of these skills and abilities translate to, and what is the role next season that he will be utilized in?