Starting the 2021-22 NBA season 6-11 is not what the Indiana Pacers had in mind and they are a team that is in trouble. Domantas Sabonis has really struggled so far this season and with Malcolm Brogdon being their only real consistent offensive threat, the Pacers are definitely in danger of missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year.
There is still plenty of basketball yet to be played and they can turn things around at any point given the talent that they have on their roster, but Indiana needs to fix something quickly.
The Pacers average margin of defeat in their 11 losses this season is 6.8 points and there is not really one thing you can point at and say they are good at.
They rank 15th in the league in both offensive rating and 19th in defensive rating and are a very average shooting team as well, as they rank 18th in the league in three-point shooting percentage as a team.
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Rick Carlisle has his work cut out for him with this team the rest of the year and while they should receive a boost when T.J. Warren returns from his foot injury, they cannot throw all of their eggs into this basket! Not only does Sabonis need to be better for this team to succeed, but they may finally need to make a chance at center.
Myles Turner has been with the Pacers since the start of the 2015-16 season and has turned himself into one of the best shot-blockers in the league, but he tends to disappear sometimes on the offensive-end of the floor.
He is averaging 12.8 points per game this season, but he is averaging just 12.1 points per game in losses and when you take away the 40 points he scored in a loss to the Washington Wizards, Turner is only averaging 9.0 points in losses.
Having one year left on his contract after this season, Myles Turner is a prime trade candidate for several teams across the league, one of them possibly being the Minnesota Timberwolves. In the Western Conference, Minnesota is searching for ways to get back to the playoffs, hence why they could look to better themselves on the defensive-end of the floor with Turner.
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Their “Big 3” of Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards and D’Angelo Russell have led the way all year long, but this team does not have much secondary talent and they need to find ways to get better defensively. Pairing Towns with Turner in the frontcourt could create one of the better frontcourt duos in the league and this trade could give the Timberwolves enough value to finally make a playoff push.
So does Minnesota have the assets Indiana would be looking for in a potential Myles Turner oriented trade around this season’s trade deadline? Let’s take a look at what Minnesota would want to give up for the shot-blocking center.
