After an abysmal 27 games to finish the 2013-14 regular season with the Pacers, Indiana decided not to extend Evan Turner a qualifying offer this summer, making him an unrestricted free agent. According to the Boston Herald, Turner is expected to sign with the Celtics for part of their mid-level exception.
Here’s the Herald’s Steve Bulpett with the news:
Celtics finishing deal for FA Evan Turner, sources tell Herald. He will get a portion of their mid-level exception.
— Steve Bulpett (@SteveBHoop) July 21, 2014
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USA Today‘s Jeff Zillgitt confirms the news:
Celtics front-office and agent David Falk just got off the phone finalizing deal for Evan Turner.
— Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) July 21, 2014
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After playing the first two-thirds of the 2013-14 season with the Philadelphia 76ers team that drafted him with the No. 2 pick overall in 2010, Turner was traded to Indiana (along with Lavoy Allen) for the expiring contract of Danny Granger in an attempt by Larry Bird‘s to punch up Indiana’s often stagnant offense. The moved proved to be a disaster.
Turner was dreadful in his 27-game Pacers tryout, and reportedly got into it with Lance Stephenson at practice during the playoffs.
Turner put up a 13.2 player efficiency rating (PER) in 54 games with Philly to start the year, 15.0 is the NBA average; sadly, that 13.2 mark was a career high for Evan. Despite no longer needing to handle so much of the offense in Indy, Turner faltered badly down the stretch in a Pacers uniform, with a sub-10 PER (9.7) and a .468 true shooting percentage. Then again, when you look at Turner’s largely disappointing career so far in the NBA, it shouldn’t be that shocking:
Damn. RT @chisportsguy41: In 3 of his 4 yrs in the NBA, Evan Turner's finished w/ negative offensive win shares. The other yr, he was at 0.0
— Chris Herring (@HerringWSJ) July 21, 2014
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Turner, despite the poor finish to his season, was a priority for the ‘Wolves before the Celtics signed him with a part of their mid-level exception. Because Boston is over the tax line, they’ve got $78.7 million tied up right now, but below the apron, they can only sign Turn to a little over $3.2 million without triggering the hard cap (around $80.8 million) for the year.
Smart signing by the C’s?
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