Getty Myles Turner of the Pacers skies for the rebound over Rudy Gobert of the Jazz.
For the majority of the NBA season the focus was on the Brooklyn Nets and their three headed monster of Kyrie Irving, James Harden, and Kevin Durant. However, the greatness of the Nets was a total team effort, and their role players were just as important as their stars.
One of the Nets most important role players was their starting forward Joe Harris who Brooklyn just signed to a 4-year/$75 million contract last November. During the season Harris proved that he was worth the price of admission averaging 14.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game. Harris also led the NBA in three-point shooting percentage as he shot a career-high 47.5% from beyond the arc in 2021.
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Nets Move Joe Harris for Myles Turner in Trade Proposal
As impressive as Harris’ regular season was in 2021, he had a playoff run that was equally as disappointing. Harris could not throw a rock in the ocean in the Nets’ second-round series with the Milwaukee Bucks. He averaged just 9.6 points per game while shooting just 32.7% from the three-point live in seven games against Milwaukee. After such a lowly playoff performance Bleacher Report’s Zack Buckley has the Nets’ moving their sharpshooter along with Nicolas Claxton this offseason in order to acquire Pacers star center Myles Turner.
“Adding an interior anchor like Myles Turner could clean up a lot of this team’s issues,” Buckley writes. “He has paced the Association in blocks per game during two of the past three seasons. And he has the third-most total blocks since entering the league in 2015 (866).”
Adding Turner to this Nets roster would be about more than making headlines for the Nets. It would fill one of the team’s biggest voids that they struggled to fix all last season, their interior defense. Turner led the NBA in blocks per game last season at a whopping 3.4 swats per game. For reference Utah Jazz big man and 2021 Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert averaged just 2.7 blocks per game.
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Having Turner Could Pay Big Dividends in the Playoffs
Adding the Pacers star would also make sense for the Nets from a matchup standpoint. While Turner is an elite interior defender, he can also switch onto wing players on defense. This could play a major part should the Nets have to play Joel Embiid and the Sixers or get a rematch with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks in next years playoffs.
Turner can also be a threat offensively. As a seven-footer who can shoot it from distance, he spaces the floor for the Nets which ultimately creates more open looks for Kyrie, Harden, and Durant.
“As an added bonus, his career 35.2 percent splash rate from three means he could provide that defensive protection without spoiling the offense’s spacing,” Buckley continued. “If Indiana is ready to break apart its jumbo frontcourt combo of Turner and Domantas Sabonis, this might be the package that gets it done.
If Indiana is truly looking to rebuild reuniting their rising star Caris LeVert with his former Brooklyn Nets teammate Harris would give them a real punch coming out of their backcourt. Executing this trade in the off-season could end up being a win-win for both teams.
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