Indiana Pacers season review: Evaluating Myles Turner

How would you grade Myles Turner’s season with the Indiana Pacers?

Just like everyone else we have graded so far, we have to factor in injuries and the inability to contribute to final grades. Turner was excellent when he was on the floor but missing the back half of the season and lending a hand to Indiana’s late-season struggles has to be part of the evaluation.

Defensively, Turner was on pace to at least be in the mix for Defensive Player of the Year and the NBA did announce that he was indeed the league’s leader in blocks because his lead was large enough despite not meeting the qualification of games played.

There was tremendous growth in Myles’ ability to defend beyond the paint and for a team that lacked any sort of perimeter defending, having a big man that could help in that regard was huge. Turner was definitely a reliable weapon when he was out there but he should also be given credit for his leadership.

Several Pacers mentioned his absence as a blow to the team’s identity and leadership down the stretch. His love of the game and the city of Indianapolis does not come around often.

Turner may not be an elite offensive player and injuries will always be a factor in his career. If he can mask those concerns with his star-level play defensively, the Pacers will always have a need for him.

Final grade: B-

The lack of clear progress as a shooter hurts his case a little bit. He was expected to take a leap with Nate Bjorgren at the helm like the rest of his teammates but that just was not the case. His shots did see a slight increase, though. Maybe one more year in the system will do the trick but I’m not going to set the bar for that expectation again.