Evan Turner Needs to Give Boston a Discount

Evan Turner and the Boston Celtics both want him back, so he should give the Celtics a discount

Evan Turner has made it no secret that he wants to return to the Boston Celtics next season. He made a comment about it during his jersey retirement at Ohio State and has also mentioned it on multiple occasions. Head coach Brad Stevens has also voiced his pleasure with Turner this season, and the idea of him returning. Now, general manager Danny Ainge has made it clear that resigning Turner will be a top priority this off-season.

Danny Ainge told the Boston Globe, “As you know I’m a fan of Evan and I think he’s had a really good year. I think he’s had a good two years [with the Celtics]. He won a lot of games for us. Down the stretch of games, he’s a good guy to have on your team, he’s a versatile player. He plays multiple positions.”

The idea of bringing Evan Turner back is pretty universally accepted by Celtics’ fans. Although, it comes down to the contract Turner commands this off-season.

Boston is expected to be one of the most active teams in free agency, and owning three draft picks makes them a desirable trade partner with teams. The Celtics have set themselves up to be able to sign a max contract player, along with another player to close to a max contract, something very few teams have the ability to do.

They will obviously have more money to sign rotational players, and bringing Turner back would be huge. He knows the system, he does a little of everything for the team, and has revived his career with Boston over the past two seasons. Turner also obviously loves playing in Boston.

Turner is making a little over $3 million this season, and should command a little more this off-season. Resigning Turner won’t make it impossible to sign a player or two to a max contract, however, it could take away from some role player signings.

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Turner has shown improved play over the past two seasons with Boston, as Ainge noted. Along with his improved play over the past two seasons, Turner has not been a problem in the locker room like during his time in Indiana when he got into scuffles with Lance Stephenson. He has developed into one of the leaders in the locker room, something that’s hard to replace.

With all the talk about star players the Celtics have a chance of signing this off-season, there are many role players that will make a huge impact as well. While Turner has clearly proven to be one of them, accepting less money to return to Boston would give the already money-flexible Boston Celtics franchise more flexibility.

There’s little doubt that Turner should command around a $5-8 million contract this upcoming off-season, but if the Celtics were able to resign him for $4 million it would be huge. He provides the Celtics with wing depth off the bench, and a player that can affect the game in multiple ways.

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He would be worth going after even if it’s around the $6 million range, but it would handcuff the Celtics a little more with other free agents. When it comes down to it, they won’t find someone who knows the system as well as he does, and has proven to thrive in it like Turner has. Turner might want to cash in on a bigger paycheck, but it would be more beneficial than people think if Turner were to spare a couple of million for Boston, it may lead to a key free agent signing. Besides, players do it all the time, take less money to help the team sign better free agents.

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