Summer League Notebook: Myles Turner shows expanded game
Myles Turner was considered something of a boom or bust prospect coming into the draft. Well, if Summer League is any indication, it looks like the Pacers might have gotten lucky and hit a "boom" with the No. 11 overall pick.
Myles Turner was considered something of a boom or bust prospect coming into the draft due to both his body and the way he was utilized at Texas this season.
Well, if Summer League is any indication, it looks like the Pacers might have gotten lucky and hit a "boom" with the No. 11 overall pick. Turner has been one of the most impressive rookies in Orlando, showing a more diverse game than we ever got a chance to see from him in college.
Turner opened his event with a 20-point, eight-rebound, three-block showing against the Miami Heat, followed 13 points, nine rebounds and six blocks against the Orlando White team. He saved his best for Wednesday, though, scoring 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting with eight rebounds and four blocks. The production has been great, but the most impressive part of his week has been the way that he has seemingly expanded his game since leaving Texas.
First and foremost, Turner has shown potential as a pick-and-roll/pick-and-pop big man that he rarely showed at Texas. According to Synergy, the big man only took 18 shot attempts as a roller last season. Given what we've seen this week, he was egregiously under-utilized in that regard with the Longhorns, as he's knocked down shots from all over the floor -- including a pair of 3s from beyond the NBA line. And while that will be very important for his development given the Pacers' desire to go uptempo, it's actually his mid-post/mid-range game that has been most exciting offensively.
Turner was fine in the post at Texas, but he largely got by either utilizing his size or by using a turnaround shot over his right shoulder. The turnaround shot over his shoulder is still there, but he's expanded on that through use of a true face-up and the ability to put the ball on the deck a bit.
This is a skill that Turner never showed at Texas for a few reasons. The main one most likely has to do with the fact that there simply isn't enough room to do this regularly in college. Because of the smaller midrange area due to the shorter 3-point line, there's just not as much room to operate, and not as much time to do so with the amount of arms that will fly at you quickly. But the ability to knock these shots down with a quick release and with assertive decision-making is part of what makes someone like a LaMarcus Aldridge such a deadly weapon in the post. Turner's not nearly on that level at this point obviously, but the potential to become a similar threat has to be exciting to the Pacers.
Defensively, Turner has maintained the same ability to protect the rim that he showed at Texas, and that's also going to be something the Pacers will like. His sense of timing is impeccable, and his length is going to cause problems even for NBA players. On Wednesday, he pinned a shot above the square on the backboard with that 7-foot-4 wingspan.

That's going to be tough for anyone to finish over, NBA or Summer League competition included.
Turner still has some hills to climb before becoming an impact NBA player as a rookie. He's far from the most instinctive passer, and he's entering the NBA at a time when the importance of that skill is at an all-time high. His zero assists in three games has been telling. Fouls have also been a concern in Orlando, as he had 13 in his first two games at the event. It's possible these things make him a limited-minute guy early on. And of course, we still need to see these expanded aspects of his game against tougher competition.
But even taking those things into account, Turner is likely going to get his chance to play. The Pacers have a pretty strong need in the frontcourt, as both Roy Hibbert and David West have gone elsewhere, leaving Lavoy Allen and Ian Mahinmi as the only two big men. Unless the team can find a way to plug that hole, there's a pretty good shot it's Turner who enters training camp as the team's starting center. That might say more about the Pacers' -- a team with playoff aspirations in 2015-16 -- roster than anything, but Larry Bird, Frank Vogel and company have to feel a lot more comfortable with that after his performance in Orlando than they did on July 4.
STANLEY JOHNSON ALSO EXCELS IN ORLANDO
Behind Aaron Gordon, Johnson has likely been the most effective player in Orlando this week. He's averaging 17.8 points per game after his 20-point outburst against Indiana on Wednesday to go with 7.5 rebounds and 2.3 steals.
Simply put, nobody has been able to keep this tremendous athlete out of the lane. He's also finished extremely well at the rim, which is important given how much of a question that was for him coming into his NBA career. He only finished at a 44 percent clip in halfcourt situations at the rim last year (per Synergy), really struggling to explode and find space to operate in close. Particularly, he's shown excellent body control to go with acrobatic ball control in the air this week. That's a good sign, but it's also not something that we can be sure will be totally translatable to the real NBA. Centers in the regular season will be much better at rim protection, which might make his lack of vertical explosion a bit more of a problem. What he's shown has at least been encouraging though, and that's all you can ask for at this event.
Johnson has also been a high energy player defensively this week, which is important to his value. At Arizona, Johnson had a tendency to be hit or miss with his intensity on that side of the ball. In Orlando, the 6-7 forward is hedging hard on screens, blitzing hand-offs, and generally just making life difficult for those against him. Part of what has made athletic 6-6 guys like him so effective in the NBA recently has been the way that they are able to defend multiple positions, and coach Stan Van Gundy had to be happy looking on from the stands as Johnson showed the ability to defend most anyone at the 2 through 4 spots.
There are a couple of reasons why I've been a bit more impressed with Turner, though. First and foremost, Johnson's shot is still pretty flat with a lower release point, which could cause him problems despite the ball falling through the net over a smaller sample of shots this week. Second, he's basically doing the same thing he did at Arizona this season, just with success. Maybe the increased space has legitimately helped his game, but I want to see this against NBA level athletes as opposed to what's been thrown at him here. Regardless, while there are still some questions about him contributing this season for the Pistons, this week has been an unmitigated success for the wing.
AARON HARRISON GETS REJECTED, BUT PUTS HIMSELF IN POSITION FOR CONTRACT
Kentucky's Aaron Harrison may have been the most high-profile player to go undrafted on June 25, but that hasn't stopped his quest to make a team. Harrison had the best camp for any undrafted player this week, averaging 13 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Hornets, who gave him an increasing amount of run over the course of the event.
He showcased his ball-handling ability very well in Orlando, both as a lead ball-handler at times and as a slasher from the wing. He finished reasonably well, too, and at least showed energy on defense. The question at this point, as it has been throughout the draft process despite his reputation, is the shooting consistency. Can you count on him to really make jump shots when he's open? He only made 33.5 percent of his 3s during his time at Kentucky, and only made 3 of 17 this week.
That's his NBA swing skill. If he's a 38 percent 3-point shooter in this league, he has a place. If not, it's hard to see him making it. Still, if I was the Hornets I'd be willing to give him a partially guaranteed contract to find out if he can improve that consistency. The team has just signed Jeremy Lin, and already has guys like Troy Daniels, P.J. Hairston, and Jeremy Lamb as developmntal wings. But still, they're already log-jammed in the frontcourt, and none of those guys have really actually shown they can play at an NBA level consistently. Why not give Harrison a shot to win one of their final two roster spots in training camp after the bit of versatility he's shown this week to play anywhere from the 1 through 3?
Despite all of those positive words, I'd be remiss if I didn't throw this quick video that I grabbed earlier in there of him meeting Keith Benson at the rim. This ended poorly for the Kentucky Wildcat.
WILLIE REED LOOKS LIKE AN NBA PLAYER
Willie Reed has been one of the better big men in attendance this week for the unbeaten Miami Heat, and he also might have saved his best performance for Wednesday. He scored 15 points, grabbed six rebounds, and swatted three shots.
Reed is the ultimate "keep it simple" kind of big man. He protects the rim (he's been on the last two D-League All-Defense teams for a reason), rebounds the basketball, and finishes in close when you get him the ball in the right position near the hoop. Basically, Reed looks like exactly what you're looking for from an NBA team, and has the for the past two years in the D-League. This isn't a rush to judgment based on a small sample size of games. Any team that's trying to find a minimum salary big man, Reed could very easily be exactly what you're looking for.
NO NATE WOLTERS, WHO HAS A BROKEN FINGER
Finally, a bit of bad news out of Orlando, as Nate Wolters has a broken middle finger and will miss the rest of the event. Wolters was having a strong event, averaging 14 points, three assists and two steals. He was a steadying presence on a team that could use a cheap, minimum-salaried backup point guard, especially if DeAndre Jordan decides to return to Los Angeles and they're well into the luxury tax.
The Clippers could do much worse than giving Wolters a partial guarantee to play as a backup to Chris Paul, given that the team has no other true point on the roster but does have some other players capable of handling the ball.















