Evan Turner is 25, 6'7" and 220#.
Paul George is 24, 6'9" and 220#
Both drafted in the first round of the 2010 NBA draft; Turner #2 and George #10.
Turner's career stats are: 11.1 PPG/5.3 RBG/29.0 MPG
George's career stats are: 15.3 PPG/6.1 RPG/31.8 MPG
Turner's best year was 2013/14 prior to the trade when he was a 17.4/5.0/34.9 guy with Philly. Georges best year was 2013/14 when he was a 21.7/6.8/36.2 guy in Indy.
Both have/had shown growth through their first four years, where Turner was playing on a very bad team in Philly, while George was playing for the #1 seed. In his rookie year he went 8/4.6/19.4 in the playoffs and the next year, 11.2/7.5/34.5. George did 6.0/5.0/26.6 and 9.7/6.6/33.7 over that same time.
Personally, I think Turner was a steal to get. We now have the #2 overall pick in the 2010 draft and if he had come out in the 2011 draft, easily a top ten in Sully.
This is key. Success changes public perception, for better or for worse. It separates players in people's mind, whether the status is warranted or not. More coverage, social proof, and a higher "social status" (in the basketball world) all contribute to it from a human nature standpoint. That is what separates a guy in the NFL that I am a huge proponent of, Ryan Tannehill, from Andrew Luck. Statistically, they are very similar, but Luck is universally more well-regarded. Everyone always says "Tannehill puts up empty stats; Luck is contributing to a winner." Now, football rebuttals aside, the same is being said of Turner vs. George. Paul George put up great stats on a team that performed very well; Turner put up very good stats on a team that performed very poorly, and he performed poorly in limited chances on a good team.
I tend to agree with you- I think Evan Turner is a good player that we got on a great deal. I think media made the public's perception of him unfairly biased, which allowed us to get him below market value. I am excited about his size and unique skill level combined with his youth. However, he absolutely does not compare to Paul George, who flashed signs of carrying a contender for long stretches throughout the season while also being a great defender, both on-ball and team.
