Author Topic: The media love for the celtics... not  (Read 2966 times)

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Re: The media love for the celtics... not
« Reply #15 on: December 01, 2020, 03:31:54 PM »

Offline RJ87

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If Turner is so good, why aren't contenders lining up to get him? Why didn't Golden State trade the 2nd overall pick James Wiseman with salary for him? Why didn't the Rockets target him instead of Christian Wood? Why didn't the Clippers trade for him instead of targeting Ibaka with the MLE? Why don't the Blazers trade for him? Why wouldn't the Bucks try to flip Lopez and Divencenzo for him? Why wouldn't the Heat flip Olynyk and Dunn (or Herro, or Robinson) for him? Why wouldn't the Raptors make a trade for him to replace the void left by Ibaka and Gasol?

I was almost talking myself into Turner before this news hit, but now that the trade hasn't happened, I've been asking, "If Turner is so good, why aren't elite teams going after him?"

Either the Pacers have made him unavailable or many teams don't think he's that good. Turner has been one of the most obviously available players in the league for at least a year. The Pacers have obviously had a mismatched lineup for several years now and Sabonis is now an all-star. It seems unlikely they wouldn't be trying to move him for something.

That leaves the possibility that contending teams in the NBA just don't think he's that good. They don't look at him and say, "He's a good player but he doesn't fit well on that roster. If we got him, his game would blossom." They probably see him as a decent role player, but whose salary and price tag are not worth a big trade for.  They look at him and think, "We can replace most of what he offers for a lot less money."

I think the Pacers will feel the need to move him this off-season for a guard or wing. Some middling team (ironically, maybe the Hornets) will make a move for him dreaming about his stretch/rim protection, but he will disappoint. They'll trade some some salary with a low-level rotation wing/guard and a "media" first round pick (the kind that the Pacers can report is a first round pick, but with protections that will make sure it never is a first rounder). Everyone will say, "See. See! Turner was worth what the Pacers were wanting from Ainge."

Meanwhile, Tristan Thompson will be contributing to actual playoff wins for the Cs and Ainge will get another rotation player with the trade exception.

Here are my ideas:
Hornets for Rozier and a protected 1st
Wizards for Bryant, Troy Brown Jr., and a protected 1st
Knicks for Randle, Frankie, and a protected 1st
Kings for Barnes and a protected 1st
Spurs for DeRozan and a protected 1st
because he has a pretty good sized contract which makes acquiring him difficult both for the team acquiring him and the Pacers.

18 million is actually a pretty easy contract to acquire in the modern NBA. It's not too hard to get to 14-15 million in aggregate salaries. The Rockets are one of the most inflexible cap situations in the NBA, but they did that with ease to acquire Christian Wood.
Wood was a free agent who was leaving Detroit. Not the same thing as acquiring a player under contract

When it is a sign-and-trade it very much is the same the thing. We could argue the value of each trade package, but you can't argue the aggregate salary amounts. Houston was able to put together the necessary salaries to get Wood, even though their cap is extremely stressed. It really isn't that hard to trade for an 18 million dollar contract in the  modern NBA.
It isn't though.  Sign and trades are no where near the same thing.  The team doing the sign and trade does it mostly for good will and a couple 2nd round picks (very rare under new rules to get anything more than that).  They have no real control over the player or the value they get back because the player can just go somewhere else, like Hayward did.  In the case of a guy under contract, the trading team still will have the player, so they need to get back actual value if it is someone they aren't trying to dump off, and Indiana is not trying to just dump Turner off.  They want value for him making his trade far more difficult given his contract size. 

The Rockets and Pistons were able to fit the Wood sign and trade into existing trades the teams already had (i.e. Detroit acquiring Ariza and Stewart), but that is also rare.

They aren't the exact same thing. Ok. My only point was that it is relatively easy to aggregate salaries to make a trade for a 18 million dollar contract.

Turner's contract isn't an issue if he really is as good of a player as the Pacers think. 18m is nothing in the modern NBA. If he really was the elite defensive anchor and floor spacer that it seems like, then teams could pretty easily figure out how to combine salaries to get him.

That's my point. I'm really not trying to debate the merits of sign-and-trades here. But as is so often the case, we won't be able to find some level of agreement.

The Pacers don't even think he's that good which is why he's pretty much been available since Sabonis emerged.

I agree with your overall point though, the idea of Myles Turner doesn't quite match up to the reality of Myles Turner. If it did, there'd be a lot of teams knocking on Indy's door to acquire him and they'd figure out the salary to make it happen.
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