Fantasy Hoops: It’s Time To Trade For Myles Turner

The Pacers were a surprise contender last season, making the playoffs after trading away franchise star Paul George. After an offseason of adding reinforcements, the team looks to be in even better shape, entering the day fourth in the Eastern Conference standings.

Indiana lost its new franchise star Victor Oladipo for 11 games, but was able to perform well in his absence, going 7-4 over that stretch. The team was able to find success by relying on its defense, as only the Thunder had a better defensive rating during the time that Oladipo was out — Indiana actually performed slightly better on the defensive end during the 11-game Oladipo-less stretch than they have on the season, per NBA.com.

Myles Turner is the anchor of the team’s stifling defense, providing elite rim protection for the club. He also stepped up his game on the offensive end this season, particularly of late. He’s averaging 16.7 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 3.5 blocks over his last six contests and he’s starting to look like he will have top-50 value in season-long roto leagues.

Oladipo reentered the lineup on Wednesday against the Bucks, accumulating 12 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists in 29 minutes of action. The return of Indy’s high-usage guard didn’t dramatically decrease Turner’s role, as the big man scored 23 points on 22 shots (including 4-for-6 from 3-point land) while adding seven rebounds, four assists, and three blocks.

While it may seem like he’s at a high-point in value, I’d expect him to, at a minimum, maintain this value going forward. Ben Simmons, Jusuf Nurkic, Andre Drummond, Aaron Gordon, C.J. McCollum, and Devin Booker are all players I’d trade for Turner in a player-for-player fantasy deal.

The big man recently signed a four-year, $72MM extension with the Pacers and so far this season, it appears as if he’ll provide good value for the franchise. Now’s the time to acquire him in fantasy before his value in that space rises even further.