Just because Damian Lillard may miss the remainder of the regular season hardly means the Portland Trail Blazers aren't open for business as the trade deadline fast approaches. The uncertain status of the six-time All-Star in wake of Thursday's surgery, in fact, could make it even more likely Portland emerges as basketball's biggest seller leading up to February 10th.
But just because the present is no longer the Blazers' chief concern hardly means interim general manager Joe Cronin won't seek personnel upgrades on the trade market. Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer reported on Thursday that Portland remains one of six teams chasing after Myles Turner, who's emerged as the Indiana Pacers' most likely trade bait.
Here are three reasons why the Blazers must make Turner their top priority ahead of the trade deadline.
Defense, defense, defense
Don't blame Jusuf Nurkic for Portland's rebuilt defense again ranking near the bottom of the league. The Blazers' defensive rating dips a whopping 8.6 points when he's on the floor, an easy team-high and in the 95th percentile of all players league-wide, per Cleaning the Glass. Not bad for a hulking seven-footer who's clearly not an ideal fit for Chauncey Billups' active, aggressive defensive scheme.
Turner wouldn't be a seamless plug-and-play center in Portland's system, either. Still, he's much more comfortable sliding his feet on the perimeter and even switching onto smaller players than Nurkic, and is one of the best natural shot-blockers in the NBA. He's contesting 7.7 shots per game at the rim this season, fourth-most in the league per NBA.com/stats, and allowing a solid 55.2% accuracy on those attempts—over 16 points better than Nurkic's porous mark.
There are lots of noise behind those numbers, but they suggest the same dynamic as the eye test. While Turner isn't Rudy Gobert or even Joel Embiid defensively, he's among the most impactful interior defenders in basketball, with the physical tools to thrive on that side of the ball irrespective of his role and the players surrounding him. He's much-improved as a defensive rebounder this season, too.
For a team built around Lillard that's bound to remain short on quality defensive players even after it's done shuffling the roster, Turner's rare flexibility would be of utmost importance.
Offensive scalability and versatility
Turner publicly questioned his future in Indiana last month, expressing frustration with his role offensively. Odds are that he won't suddenly become a post-up hub or high-usage facilitator no matter when he's playing after the trade deadline. Turner lacks the base needed to establish and maintain deep position on the block, and doesn't have the all-around feel with the ball befitting an offensive fulcrum like teammate Damontas Sabonis.
But focusing on Turner's deficiencies offensively unnecessarily detracts from what makes him so valuable on that side of the ball: Legitimate shooting stretch out to the three-point line.
Turner is shooting just 33.9% from deep this season on a career-high 4.4 attempts per game. He's at least a slightly better shooter than that middling efficiency indicates. Unlike a lot of centers comfortable launching threes, Turner takes them from all around the arc, forcing defenses to account for him no matter where he is on the floor.
Lillard has never played with a frequent ball-screen partner who consistently threatens the defense from three. Turner's presence wouldn't just widen driving lanes for Lillard that have been crowded for years, but keep the floor open for rim attacks that Billups wants to make the emphasis of his team's overall offensive attack.
A bonus? Turner is shooting 76.1% at the rim and 56.8% from floater range this season, elite marks that point to his development dealing with physicality in the paint—and would make him an even more dangerous pick-and-roll dive man for Lillard in Portland.
Age and developmental timeline
Lillard still has 10 toes in Rip City even as he steps back from the spotlight to rehab post-surgery. Big picture, the Blazers' best means of vaulting toward realistic championship contention would be a full-scale rebuild, but Lillard doesn't have time for that arduous process. He's already 31, on the downside of his prime even before returning from the first significant health setback of his career.
Turner, incredibly, is still just 25 despite this season marking his seventh year in the league. His best days are still ahead of him, and Turner's strides offensively—after a summer spent focusing even more on his body—in 2021-22 portend more subtle growth to come going forward. Portland would have the opportunity to re-sign Turner using Bird Rights once his current contract expires after next season, too.
Retooling on the fly isn't easy. But with an aging superstar Lillard here for the long haul and the hopeful prospect of a high-lottery pick coming aboard next season, the Blazers need as many present and future impact players as possible. Turner, a perennial All-Defense candidate who's still getting better on the other end, perfectly fits that bill.
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