The Pacers big man spoke with Woj during his off day in the Big Apple.
On Pacers media day in late September, Myles Turner prefaced his response to Bob Kravitz about “the elephant in the room,” that being how Turner feels about his inevitable trade along with all of the trade rumors, by saying, “This is the only time I will be addressing it this year; I want to make sure everyone knows that.”
On Sunday, Turner spent his off day in NYC thoroughly addressing the topic again with ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on the Woj Pod which dropped Monday morning. For anyone holding out hope the Pacers won’t trade Turner, or that Turner wants to remain in Indy after his contract expires, this should clarify the situation.
Woj delivered a spectacular Myles Turner infomercial that both Kevin Pritchard and Turner’s agent Bill Duffy had to enjoy. This on the heels of some solid play of late by Turner, combined with several (not just the Lakers) high profile teams stumbling out of the block in the NBA regular season, and KP and friends in the Pacers front office should be in pretty good shape when it comes to any return value for the big man.
Woj wasted little time asking about the trade rumors, specifically with the Lakers, and Turner didn’t hesitate to say, if he was the Lakers “I’d take a very hard look at this.” This being, two future first-round picks for Turner and Buddy Hield. Turner touted what he can bring to a team with his leaderships, shot blocking, three-point ability and ability to make plays.
This was the first of a few opportunities when Turner was able to express how valuable he is on the court when he’s at his best. He also talked about how close he is with Buddy Hield and how they have been doing their best to enjoy all of the trade chatter.
Following the Pacers win in Philly on Friday, when Tuner had 27 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks and Hield made 5 3-balls to finish with 25 points, the pair enjoyed their respective social media feeds blowing up while riding the bus away from the arena. They laughed and shared memes from the talented masses after their big night while (at the time) the Lakers remained winless.
We also learn that Turner felt he would have been dealt by the deadline last season if not for his injury. May have worked out for the best. Would the Pacers have traded Domas for Haliburton, also? In hindsight, you would hope so, but we’ll never know.
Listen to the whole thing (only 28 minutes) for more on Myles not yet scratching the surface of his NBA potential and feeling that the Indiana market hampers his marketability for personal awards and team recognition.
Beautiful. Keep selling Myles!!!