Reevaluating the Toronto Raptors’ buyout market options

Evan Turner

Evan Turner likely won’t step foot on the court for the Minnesota Timberwolves this year after being traded to them from the Atlanta Hawks before the deadline. For the Hawks, Turner rarely stepped foot on the court, either.

He featured in 19 games this season, averaging 3.3 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists, shooting just 37-percent from the field. Before this year, Turner spent three years in Portland acting as a primary ball-handler when CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard were not on the court. He’s a good passer and can initiate an offense, but is sorely limited as a shooter.

At his peak, Turner averaged 17.4 points per game for the Philadelphia 76ers, before moving to the Boston Celtics and averaging 5.0 assists per game in two years. At 31 years old, Turner is past his peak but can still operate as a decent back-up ball handler.

Even as a net-negative shooter, it wouldn’t hurt for the Toronto Raptors to have a little more flexibility at the point guard position, allowing the likes of Powell, Davis, and Fred VanVleet to play off the ball and come off screens and as spot-up shooters.

Turner isn’t a terrible defender and would probably look a little better on a defense like the Toronto Raptors, but he wouldn’t lift the team to another level.

The Raptors shouldn’t and likely won’t rush out to get Turner, but that doesn’t make him an intriguing option nonetheless.