The Pacers have exercised their team option on center Myles Turner for the 2018/19 season, Keith Smith of RealGM.com tweets. Turner, who is locked into a salary of $2,569,920 for the upcoming season, will make $3,410,284 that season.
The team option was a mere formality for a player that has become the face of the franchise in the aftermath of the Paul George trade to the Thunder. Turner, 21, turned out to be a steal with the 11th overall pick of the 2015 draft. He started half of the 60 games he appeared in during his rookie campaign, averaging 10.3 PPG and 5.5 RPG.
Last season, Turner started 81 games and posted averages of 14.5 PPG, 7.3 RPG and 2.1 BPG. His shotblocking average ranked third in the league. His scoring totals should increase with the continued development of his offensive game and the departure of George.
Turner will be eligible to sign a contract extension next offseason. Indiana will likely offer a max extension, barring a major injury to Turner.
Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors has compiled a list of all rookie scale team options for the 2018/19 season. You can find it here.
Steal of that draft.
Devin Booker begs to differ
Devin Booker is one dimensional right now, if he develops more yeah he can say that. But Turner has actually seen playoffs and has been pretty good overall in them.
That was a really good draft.
Towns, Booker, Turner, Okafor, Russell, Kaminsky, Winslow, Porzingis, and more. All are either All Star caliber (Towns, Porzingis, Booker, maybe Turner and Russell eventually) or key rotation players (Okafor, Kaminsky, Winslow).