Evan Turner Might Want To Watch the Golden State Warriors
By Jeremy Karll
Evan Turner believes the NBA’s future is in the mid-range game
Soon to be free agent Evan Turner was recently interviewed by Complex Sports and opened up about topics ranging from his upcoming free agency to fashion. Evan Turner is one of the most fashionable players in the NBA, although his idea about the NBA’s future seems a little off.
It’s no surprise that Turner doesn’t pride himself on his three-point shooting. He only shot 24.1 percent from three last season for the Boston Celtics and owns a very bad career 30.5 three-point percentage. He’s never been a three-point shooter, and he’s proud of his mid-range game.
He recently told Complex Sports, “The future is in the midrange. The midrange is where the money’s at, man. … So I’m not sorry for that at all. Evan M. Turner. For sure, ‘M’ stands for midrange. Anywhere within 15 feet is cash. I’ll try to get better at 3s, but that’s my game.”
He’s right about mid-range being where he’s most effective. He shot 42.7 percent from 10-to-16 feet out and 31.1 percent of his attempted shots last season came from that range. He loves to get an open look for that range as the only area he’s more efficient in is in the paint.
As far as the NBA’s future being in the NBA, Turner might want to rethink that. The three-point shot is more relevant than ever. Steph Curry owns three of the top four three-point shooting seasons in NBA history, including knocking down a ridiculous 402 threes this past season. The only other player to be in Curry’s realm of three-point shooting is his teammate Klay Thompson who connected on 276 threes this past season – third best in NBA history.
The Golden State Warriors as a team averaged 31.61 threes per game this past season – ranking second behind the 2014-15 Houston Rockets. They were also the first team to hit over 1,000 threes in a season.
How did it work out for them?
They won an NBA record 73 games and lead the Cleveland Cavaliers two games to none in the NBA Finals. The Cavaliers averaged 31.8 threes during the postseason thus far – tied for the most in the postseason and ranked third in the regular season.
There’s no doubt that the mid-range game was more prominent back in the 1980’s and 1990’s, however, the game has slowly been changing and now has become a three-point shooting game.
There’s a reason why all-time great shooters like Ray Allen and Reggie Miller never met these marks. Teams didn’t want to take as many shots from three as they were more focused on pounding the ball into the paint.
Now, teams like to space the floor and it’s rare to have a power forward who can’t shoot the long ball. The term stretch-four is one of the most overused terms in the NBA now since almost every big man can be considered that.
Next: Predicting the Boston Celtics 2016-17 Roster
Either way, Turner should continue to do what’s been working for him because that is what’s going to land him a hefty contract this off-season. Turner is a dying breed in the NBA today, but there’s still a lot of good players who focus on their mid-range game. It’s just not the future of the NBA.