Why Myles Turner Should Be Mavs' Top Trade Target
As much as the Dallas Mavericks would love to give Luka Doncic an All-Star teammate this summer, any potential moves made will likely be smaller ones that improve the team's depth due to salary cap restrictions. This doesn't mean the Mavs can't be creative and make things work if a star player says they want to play in Dallas, but why make things complicated until you absolutely have to?
After all, a team doesn't just luck into going 36-12 since New Year's Eve, then defeating the Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns en route to a Western Conference finals appearance. The Mavs did all that despite not having arguably their third-best player in Tim Hardaway Jr. due to a foot fracture he suffered in January. Star talent is always wanted, but it might not be a pressing issue in this particular situation.
One of the main areas of concern for the Mavs going forward is their starting center position. Dwight Powell has proven that he can be an effective starter in regular-season play, but he was essentially unplayable in Dallas' recent playoff run to the Western Conference finals. The Mavs need more offensive versatility, shot-blocking and rebounding from their starting center, and Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner could very well be the answer.
Turner is a Dallas native and has been linked to the Mavs in a handful of trade rumors over the years, including this year. The 26-year-old versatile big man checks nearly every box when it comes to what the Mavs are looking for in a starting center, but the main one is rim protection – something Dallas was able to get by not having until it ran into the Golden State Warriors in the conference finals.
Turner averaged 12.9 points and 7.1 rebounds per game for the Pacers this season. Despite averaging just 29.4 minutes, he led the league with 2.8 blocks per game. The second-closest player to Turner in that category was Memphis Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. with 2.3 blocks per game. Turner also shot 50.9 percent from the field, including 33.3 percent from deep.
One thing to take into consideration when evaluating Turner's potential fit with the Mavs is the fact that he's never played a distributor of Doncic's caliber. There are a handful of games where Doncic is able to make Powell look like prime Blake Griffin, so the idea of plugging a talent like Turner into that spot should be exciting for Dallas.
Given that Turner is about to be on an $18 million expiring contract – assuming he doesn't sign an extension with Indiana – the Pacers might've waited too late to get maximum value for him in a trade. Potentially being an unrestricted free agent next year, paired with the fact that he's coming off a foot injury that ended his 2021-22 season, means the Mavs might be able to snag Turner despite not having the greatest of trade assets.
The Mavs have a list of offseason priorities, starting with re-signing Jalen Brunson, who was key to their conference finals run. But aside from that, trading for Turner should be next on the list. Rumors tend to heat up as we get closer to the draft, and that's less than three weeks away. Let's see what the Mavs decide to do.
If you'd like to hear more on this topic, be sure to listen to the latest episode of The Drunk Sports Podcast, where I joined Timm Hamm and Colby Sapp as a guest. Not only do we cover the Turner trade idea, but we review the Mavs' season at large, discuss how sustainable Dallas' new foundation is, and predict the free agency future of Jalen Brunson as well.
You can listen to the entire episode here:
