Atlanta Hawks possible upgrade at center No. 2: Myles Turner offers rim protection and range at some expense of crashing the boards
Myles Turner has been mentioned here before briefly concerning a potential move at center for the Hawks. The 6-foot-11 former Texas Longhorn just turned 25 and has led the NBA in blocks twice in the last three seasons. He’s also a career .770 percent free-throw shooter, including .782 this past season, checking off two boxes on our list.
Add Turner’s range — his 33.5 percent from deep was his lowest since his 2016 — and that’s rim protection at one end and the ability to pull the opposing center away from the basket.
Hawks fans saw how effective that skill set was with Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis of the Milwaukee Bucks. The duo essentially allowed the Bucks guards to attack the paint freely with little resistance from Atlanta bigs caught in a bad way.
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Turner’s rebounding numbers aren’t great and, while some of that can be attributed to playing alongside another prominent big, that has only been for the last two years. So it’s doubtful he would help the Hawks, who were 12th in the postseason in defensive rebound percentage, in that regard.
You can more easily attribute his suppressed scoring to the talent around him. But with his talent, you’d still like to see more aggression consistently.
Again, this is an area where the Hawks can lean into their head coach. McMillan was an assistant when Turner arrived in Indiana and was his head coach for four years before joining the Hawks. Don’t underestimate the impact he and a different setup offensively can have.
The Hawks have enough shooters that he wouldn’t have to post up outside to open up the lane. His range will come into play in transition where he can knock down shots as a trailer.