One of the constants this season was Myles Turner trade rumors. Many fans had hoped they would finally stop after he signed his extension with the Pacers. However, given the value of the contract, it appears that they have only continued to propagate.
In a new piece from the Athletic, multiple trades for the Brooklyn Nets are proposed, one of which is a trade for Myles Turner. And this is not out of the blue, just in the last week alone we have graded multiple trades across different national media outlets that have involved Turner:
- Indiana Pacers: Bleacher Report suggests trade akin to highway robbery
- National outlet suggests a new Pacers and Lakers trade
And it appears that they all think that Turner is a LOT less valuable of an asset than he actually is constantly undervaluing him as a player. So one would hope that the newest piece from the Athletic would do the Pacers’ big man justice?
Well, unfortunately, it appears that isn’t the case as the piece proposed quite the blockbuster of a trade, but at first glance (and possibly at last as well) it appears to be heavily favored in the Nets direction.
The Pacers trade away every good asset they have for Nic Claxton.
The trade piece is a work of art by the way. Absolutely amazing how to put together such a one-sided trade. Here is the proposed swap:
So Nic Claxton is clearly the best player the Pacers recieve and would be a good timeline replacement for Turner, except that he only has one year left on his contract. If he leaves, that would leave the Pacers with the number 22 and 51 pick this year? That’s hardly worthwhile compensation for both Turner and Hield, the two most valuable veteran trade pieces that we have.
I think any Pacers fan would turn this down in a heartbeat and the Athletic’s Bob Kravtiz seems to agree, who wrote about the trade:
"“Kevin Pritchard already has made it clear that he has no desire to bring in more rookies beyond the No. 7 pick. So, thanks but no thanks.”"
So this trade has very little upside for the Pacers and clearly has a higher upside for the Nets. But could this trade be adjusted so that it is a bit more of an even swap for both teams?
The Pacers would have to get back either premium draft position or a premium player for both Turner and Hield.
And there is only one of those two things that Brooklyn has in Mikal Bridges. So that would have to be included in a deal for both Turner and Hield. Something like this might get it done for the Nets and would be equitable for both sides (although it’s unclear if the Nets would even entertain trading Bridges).
This seems to be the most equitable trade that we could come up with that involved both teams involved. The Pacers would correct a previous mistake of trading Edmund Sumner away and would have two starting-quality players to replace the two they are trading away. To compensate them for the youth they are sending our way we would give them two first-round picks, one in the lottery, one later in the first round.
What do you think about our correction Athletic?