Time to Trade Turner?

The Sixers are clearly struggling.  Throughout the first month of the season the team did a pretty good job of hanging around and remaining relevant while they waited patiently for the increasingly-delayed return of their 'season-saver,' Andrew Bynum.  At this point in the season however, halfway through the dog days of January, the wheels have fallen off, and the Sixers are basically free-falling out of the playoff picture.  Fans are getting frustrated, fingers are getting pointed, and the inevitable trade talks are beginning to swirl.

It may be too late to save the season at this point.  Even with Bynum eying a return around the all-star break, the team may have dug itself too deep a hole by then, and if not the best they could realistically do is a 7 or 8 seed (Déjà vu anyone?).

Thus the team needs to look forward.  Many people are calling for Evan Turner to be traded, and Sacramento is a popular hypothetical destination for the former second overall pick.  While I have long been a Turner supporter; I was in favor of the team drafting him, and have waited patiently for him to develop into the multi-tooled talent many projected him to be coming out of OSU, these trade talks may have some merit.

Demarcus Cousins wants out of Sacramento

Evan is clearly showing strong signs of development this season, averaging a well-rounded 13.9 points , 6.7 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game, while being a key cog in the team's defensive strategy.  Turner is finally getting the time is often associated with high lottery picks, and while he may not be setting the world on fire, he is obviously improved.

It seems strange then that just as the kid is beginning to find his stride, people are calling for him to be exported elsewhere.  But, sports are strange, and as it stands now for the Sixers, trading Turner might really make some sense.

While Evan's increased exposure this season has shown us that his game is still growing, as is his confidence, it has also demonstrated that in all likelihood, Turner will never be a primary offensive option.  While ET brings a lot to the offensive end of the floor, his shot is suspect, and his scoring is too inconsistent, as he can go long stretches without putting the ball in the basket.  While he can serve as a solid second or third option to an NBA offense, he is not a consummate go-to-guy, meaning the Sixers still have to stack up offensively around him.  Sounds very similar to the recent Andre Iguodala situation, and we all know how well that worked out.  Turner is not the future centerpiece of the team, and while he would be a nice piece to have moving forward, not at the expense of other parts that may better fit the puzzle. 

Another sign that the Sixers should shop Turner is the fact that he is at his most effective with the ball in his hands.  Rather than a being a dangerous wing scorer who can operate within the framework of an offense (a la Carmelo or D-Wade), Turner is at his best with the ball in his hand, controlling the tempo. While this is fine in certain scenarios, the future of the franchise is clearly Jrue Holiday, who in his fourth season and fresh off of a contract extension, is blossoming into an all-star.  The franchise is very excited to have Holiday handle the rock for the next handful of seasons, as he is really starting to look like something special.  However, Holiday's ball domination leaves little room for Tuner to operate with the ball and control the tempo.  An offense cannot be built around  two ball-dominating back court players, as it seems a spot-up-shooter/slasher would better compliment Holiday, the team's biggest (certain) building block going forward.

So it seems it may only make sense to trade Turner, although not necessarily to Sacramento as many suggest. Yes, the Sixers should try to secure some solid front court production in such a trade, as they would if they acquired Demarcus Cousins from the Kings.  However, it is another Western Conference team that the Sixers should target if they want to try to trade Turner.

The Sixers had a chance to draft Derrick Favors back in 2010 when they opted for Turner, which at the time seemed like the logical move.  Well, times change, and the 2013 Sixers, spearheaded by an enormously improved Jrue Holiday could use Favors going forward, especially if Bynum is truly going to return to the team.  For the sake of this article, let's assume that Bynum hasn't completely abandoned his NBA career and will put in the work to come back at least semi-successfully, and that the Sixers will re-sign this sort-of-semi-healthy-and-still-productive Bynum for a few more seasons.  Pairing him with the young and athletic Favors would give the Sixers an extremely athletic and formidable front court moving forward.  Throw in all-star play at the point guard spot, and we would be looking at a young, explosive, and well-rounded Sixers squad.

The Jazz have several front court options and could benefit from the addition of a versatile combo guard in the ilk of Turner, while the Sixers would then be left to fill out the wing spots; a much easier task when a solid PG, PF, and C are already in place. A starting five of Holiday-Richardson-Young-Favors-Bynum would be formidable to finish this season, which is looking more and more lost with each loss, and would give the Sixers a solid core to build off of going into the off season.

This trade  is just one possible scenario for the Sixers, who have said nothing publicly about trying to trade Turner.  However, it is becoming clear that this is a move that they may need to consider as Turner's tools may not be the best fit for the franchise going forward.