6:00pm: Turner’s six-week prognosis is the minimum amount of time he’ll miss, as it could stretch beyond that timetable, Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star tweets. Doctors found a torn ligament during the surgery, lengthening the amount of time he’ll need to recover, Buckner adds (Twitter link).
4:36pm: Turner is expected to be out six weeks, the team says in its announcement that he had the surgery today. It’s unclear whether that’s six weeks total or six weeks from today.
MONDAY, 12:17pm: Turner will have surgery this afternoon, and his timetable for a return is four to six weeks from today, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.
THURSDAY, 1:57pm: Pacers lottery pick Myles Turner will miss at least the next four weeks after suffering a chip fracture in his left thumb in the first half of Wednesday’s game, the team announced. The 19-year-old had a place in Indiana’s rotation as the backup center and had logged 17.9 minutes per night before his early exit Wednesday. The Pacers are short on interior players, as Nate Taylor of The Indianapolis Star notes (Twitter link), with Lavoy Allen and Jordan Hill the only experienced big men aside from starter Ian Mahinmi. Shayne Whittington and Rakeem Christmas are also on the roster, but they’re currently on D-League assignment.
The team is thin up front by design, having shifted to more of a small-ball attack this season. Turner, this year’s No. 11 pick, posted averages of 7.0 points and 3.3 rebounds per contest prior to Wednesday. He’s dealt with several minor ailments so far this season, helping limit his minutes, but the team has high expectations for the former University of Texas player, as Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star told us in a recent edition of The Beat.
Indiana is without the ability to apply for a disabled player exception, since Turner’s injury isn’t expected to be season-ending, and they’ve been relatively injury-free this year, so they don’t meet the requirement to apply for a 16th roster spot via hardship. The Pacers are without much roster flexibility, as they’re carrying the regular season limit of 15 players, all of whom have fully guaranteed contracts. They have their $2.814MM room exception available to give free agents more than the minimum salary, but that’s not likely to be a factor.
How do you think the Pacers should compensate for Turner’s injury? Leave a comment to tell us.