Every NBA season leads to a trade, whether big or small. Yet, only a handful of players constantly find themselves at the center of rumors, their names casually tossed in trade chatter.
This season, that’s been seen with players like Zach LaVine and Kyle Kuzma. In the offseason, those who are anticipating a blockbuster trade will discuss the futures of Donovan Mitchell and Bradley Beal, a pair of star guards who have been involved in various trade rumors. However, over the past three seasons, Myles Turner may have gotten the worst of it.
Myles Turner Comes Clean About Being Involved in Trade Rumors
Turner has spent his entire career with the Indiana Pacers. Starting his career off as a replacement for shot-blocker Roy Hibbert, all he initially had to do was support the team’s stars with his interior defense. That said, Turner left Texas averaging 2.6 blocks per game as a one-and-done prospect; it was a great idea. However, after Paul George –their best player –was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, a lot changed.
The Beginning of the End… Nearly
In trading George, the Pacers acquired two star-caliber players in Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis.
Indeed, in Oladipo’s first season in Indiana, he won the Most Improved Player of the Year Award after averaging career-highs of 23.1 points and 2.4 steals per game. Unfortunately, the former second overall pick’s body didn’t take to the rigors of NBA life, and began breaking down in his second season with the Pacers. Meanwhile, Sabonis was off to a slow start in Indiana. In his first two seasons with the Pacers, he averaged 12.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 0.4 blocks per game.
Though he emerged as an All-Star in 2020, it was too late.
During the 2019 NBA Draft, teams made calls about Turner, judging him and Sabonis to be a poor long-term fit. However, as Sabonis had yet to make a star turn, Turner was more valuable. As a result, he generated more attention from rival teams and the media. This opened the floodgates, as teams like the Boston Celtics and New Orleans Pelicans were soon linked to Turner. Yet, the interest in a trade up to this point appeared one-sided, the Pacers rejecting multiple offers for the big man.
Then came the Bleacher Report article from 2020 in which Turner was rumored to be on the trade block. Nothing was ever the same after that. With Gordon Hayward looking to return to his home state, the Celtics were willing to trade him to the Pacers. Indiana offered Turner.
‘Am I the Problem?’
In a wide-ranging interview with HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto, Turner opens up about what that time in his career was like. With the Pacers making a run to the Eastern Conference Finals, his trade saga provides a unique backdrop.
“It’s pretty dope,” Turner says of surviving the trade rumors. “A lot of people were expecting you to fold with that. When you start hearing those types of rumors year in and out, you start kind of getting insecure. You look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, ‘Am I the problem?'”
“You’ve been hyped up your entire life,” he muses, “and when you get to this stage, everything’s under a microscope. When you start playing for these multi-million dollar organizations, any little thing that goes wrong, the blame is going to be on you. That’s where it got in my career.”
“It’s a full circle serendipitous moment to finally get an opportunity to play and ball out on this stage, the biggest stage in basketball, while also seeing every single phase of Pacers basketball.”
Proudly, Turner proclaims that he “stood tall throughout all this.”
“I had to endure those years where everyone was talking down, telling me things were my fault, and you’re a s***** player… To sit here and say it was easy, it wasn’t.”
“There were times when you couldn’t get on social media,” Turner admits, repeating a familiar refrain of those with forward facing careers. “It feels like when you show your face in public, you’re not received the same way. Living through that stuff wasn’t easy. To the regular fan, you get paid millions of dollars. You’ll be okay. Wipe away your tears with money.”
A thoughtful Turner then made an observation so simple that it shouldn’t have been profound, but it was.
“…At the end of the day, we’re all human beings,” Turner says. “We all look for that outside validation at times. Not receiving that is something that definitely hurt…”
