Atlanta Hawks: 3 Goals for Evan Turner in 2019-20 Season

A quick look at the goals for Atlanta Hawks veteran Evan Turner in the 2019-20 NBA season.

After 9 years in the NBA with four different teams, Evan Turner joined the Atlanta Hawks via trade this offseason when the team shipped off beloved swingman Kent Bazemore in a player-for-player swap.

Turner is coming off of a strong season for the Portland Trail Blazers in which he played a key role off the bench, starting in a career-low 2 games in the 2018-19 season. Expect that number to be even lower in 2019-20 seeing as the Hawks already have their backcourt of the future in the form of Kevin Huerter and Rookie of the Year runner-up Trae Young.

So, what of Turner’s goals for next season? Read on to explore them.

More Assists on Low Usage

Last season, per Basketball Reference, Turner produced his third-highest assist rate (23.6%) on his second-lowest usage rate (15.9%), meaning he was using his veteran smarts and solid court vision to make the right pass while not holding onto the ball too long. This will need to continue next season in order to allow Cam Reddish, Kevin Huerter and even De’Andre Hunter to flourish with the ball in their hands on the second unit.

Solid Defense Backing up Ice Trae

Turner has a career 0.5 defensive box plus/minus according to Basketball Reference, and the 30-year-old vet is clearly more of an asset on the less glamorous end than he is on offense. His defense should be extremely important in order to paper over the defense of Young, who was a notably poor defender last season.

Better Three-Point Shooting

This one might be shot in the dark, but if Turner were able to improve his three-point shooting next season, that would be a huge boon for the Hawks. It must be noted that his best seasons shooting from outside also coincided with his most attempts (36.5% on 159 attempts in 2012-13 and 32.1% on 156 attempts in 2013-14).

Check back in with our next player in our Atlanta Hawks player goals series as we approach the beginning of the 2019-20 season.