Evan Turner: Sixth Man of the Year?

When this season began and the Boston Celtics were still settling their roster Evan Turner appeared to be one of the more uncertain players on the team. Turner was a starter, but had a problematic campaign last year and with them drafting two guards in the first round, Turner’s future with the team was in question.

Turner was one of the offensive instigators on the Celtics last year and continually had the ball in his hands. It was not all bad as he did lead the team in assists but his wild and inconsistent play made him impossible to tolerate. It became clear that Turner could not handle that kind of load and he would have to make major changes to his game in order to succeed.

This season, Turner has seen his role reduced drastically. The starting unit shuffled around but once it settled Turner had no chance of passing Isaiah Thomas or Avery Bradley for the starting unit. Turner then took over the role as the offensive instigator with the second unit. He still got to play with the ball in his hands but the Celtics’ success depended much less on him.

Going to the bench was not the only change to Turner’s game. He has been beyond horrible from three point range and this season he has eliminated that from his game. Turner is being much smarter with his shot selection and he has found the mid range areas where he succeeds the most. Most importantly, Turner has continued to be one of the main distributors on the team.

Turner’s 4.4 assists per game are second only to Thomas and he is embracing Stevens’ offense to the fullest. With Thomas joining the starters the Celtics needed someone on that second unit to step up. The Celtics depend greatly on their bench production and they needed Turner to make sure that they did not lose one of their best advantages.

The Celtics have had one of the best second units in the league all season long and that is where Turner’s case for sixth man of the year begins. There are very few teams who depend more on their second unit than the Celtics and that unit would not be the same with Turner. Turner is having a better impact with the second unit this year than he had with the starters last year.

Thomas is leading the Celtics’ bench and it goes far beyond his scoring. Turner’s 9.9 points per game are actually better than he did as a starter last year and his offensive efficiency has been vital. Turner has improved his shooting percentage by almost 20% this season and he is avoiding making the bad plays that plagued the Celtics last year.

Turner is no longer painfully inconsistent and he has improved his game while making his teammates better. Turner has done a masterful job of controlling the pace of the Celtics when Thomas is out and he is making sure that he is optimizing the amount of solid opportunities the Celtics have.

Turner also continues to be one of the better rebounding guards in the league and he is rounding out his game well enough to be in contention for sixth man of the year. Consistency has always been a huge issue with Turner and the first thing he needs to do is maintain this level of play.

Turner helps the Celtics in every way possible. He is finding ways to make the right plays on offense and the best part of his game remains his defense. Turner is one of the Celtics’ better on ball defenders and he is one of the only other players that can physically match up the way Jae Crowder does. Turner takes over much of Crowder’s responsibilities when he is off the court and he ensures that the Celtics get stellar defense from their second unit guards.

Next: Isaiah Thomas is Proving Doubters Wrong

Turner has come a long way since last season and he is putting a lot of his issues behind him. Turner is finally developing into the kind of player that can be a part of a contending team and with the impact he is having off the bench for the Celtics he could wind up getting the sixth man of the year award that Thomas was snubbed of last year.