Trail Blazers' Evan Turner: Set to start at small forward

Turner, who agreed to a four-year, $70 million contract Friday with the Trail Blazers, was told he would open the season as the team's starting small forward, Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald reports.

After serving in a starting role for most of the first five seasons of his career, Turner settled in as the sixth man for the Celtics in 2015-16, coming off the bench for 69 of 81 regular-season contests and averaging 10.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.0 steals across 28.0 minutes per game. The main deficiency in Turner's game is his lack of three-point range, but that trait shouldn't be a major issue while he plays alongside the potent backcourt combination of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, both of whom are proficient from downtown. Instead, Turner will use his 6-foot-7, 220-pound frame and ranginess to make most of his impact as a defender and rebounder. With the ball in his hands less often, Turner's fantasy numbers could suffer, but he still profiles as a good fit with the Blazers in real-life terms.