Evan Turner is an unrestricted free agent this off season, and the Celtics forward is looking to get paid based on his proficiency at mid-range shooting. Turner shot over 40% percent from mid-range during this past season with Boston, and he is not buying into the way the game is moving towards taking more 3s just yet.
Turner spoke to Complex.com about how impactful mid-range shooting is:
“People say, ‘You can’t shoot the three.’ But I can defend, I can pass, rebound, score. You got guys that all they can do is shoot and nothing else. Like, how a– backwards is that? Only in America can you be a lacrosse player and judge basketball. Or you’ve never played basketball and say, ‘Yeah, I was working on the stock market—[stuff] wasn’t working so now I’m in the NBA judging talent.’ [The media] can write stuff on something they have no clue about.
“The future is in the mid-range. The mid-range is where the money’s at, man. I think the three-point shot opens up the court and everything like that, but MJ and all those great players made all of their money out of the mid-range. So I’m not sorry for that at all. Evan M. Turner. For sure, ‘M’ stands for mid-range. Anywhere within 15 feet is cash. I’ll try to get better at threes, but that’s my game.”
Sean Livingston’s Finals performance in Game 1 has shown us that mid-range shooting can be very effective when deployed under the right scheme. However, it’s the 3 and D guys with length that tend to have the staying power in terms of positions that are valuable in the NBA. The Knicks are rumored to be interested in Turner, so his mid-range skills may be a good fit for whatever version of the triangle Hornaceck develops. With the salary cap increasing, players at the same level as Turner are set to be paid very well regardless of their mid-range ability.