Myles Turner arrived in Indianapolis and was introduced to local media members and team employees Friday afternoon about 16 hours after the Pacers used the 11th pick in the 2015 NBA Draft on the 19-year-old center.
Turner, in kakis, a tan zip-up coat, and still wearing his official draft cap, walked into the media room at Bankers Life Fieldhouse with Larry Legend and Frank Vogel, and then sat between them for a press conference.
Myles Turner, the Pacers’ pick at 11, poses with coach Frank Vogel and team President Larry Bird.
Turner’s 7-foot size was truly apparent as he stood next to the 6-foot-9 Hall of Famer later as they posed for pictures (as seen to the right).
“Indiana! I’m here now,” he said with a bright white smile. “Very excited to be part of this organization, its rich history, and basketball country out here.”
Turner admitted that he didn’t know much about the city. His first visit was over a week when he came in for a pre-draft workout. He compared it to Austin, Texas, where he played his one and only year of college ball at the University of Texas.
“I know it’s growing, becoming quite populous,” he said of Indy, “so I’m excited to see what it’s about.”
The transition will test the young one at times this year, a guy who has lived with his parents but comes across as an old, wise soul.
“He’s wise beyond his years,” his agent, Andy Miller of ASM Sports, told me. “He’s very poised and composed for someone who’s only 19. He has a tremendous work ethic, and as I was discussing with Larry in his office, if you look at where he was from his last game in college and where he is today physically, the improvements he’s made already in a short period of time is a credit to how hard he works.”
In college, his numbers were not eye-popping: 10.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. But he did swat an average of 2.6 shots per game in just over 22 minutes per game.
“I feel like when you’re name is hot you got to go,” Turner said of his decision to enter the draft. “You can’t pass up on an opportunity. My name was hot at the moment so I trusted my heart.”
And that worked out well for him. He should earn about $2 million in his rookie season, according to the rookie pay scale.
Reaching the NBA also seems like a long time coming for him. When Turner was recently looking back at baby pictures, he came across one with details of his birth — March 24, 1996 at 1:48 p.m. Above all of it said “First Round Draft Pick”
“My dad knew it,” Turner said proudly. “My dad knew it all along. That was pretty cool.”
For the Pacers, drafting Turner at 11 looks an awful lot like they’re thinking more towards the future than one more go with the current bunch. Think of him as Roy Hibbert’s replacement. Hibbert is expected to opt in by Monday’s deadline but the team is trying to unload his $15.5 million dollar salary. That’s easier said than done, of course. Hibbert and David West each have player options but as of draft night and despite reports out there, the Pacers insist they don’t know what they’ll decide.
“We’re very happy to have a man of his caliber,” Bird said of his latest addition. “He’s 7-foot, very young but we think in the near future we’re going to continue to watch his growth. He’s a hard worker, he’s dedicated to the sport, and we just feel like in the near future he’s going to be something special for us.”
Special.
[VIDEO: Larry Bird on the Pacers’ 2015 Draft Class — Myles Turner, Joseph Young]
That’s a word General Manager Kevin Pritchard used earlier this week to describe what the team wants to do with its first lottery pick since 2010, when they selected now two-time All-Star Paul George.
“I think you try to get, at the draft level, the best player you can because in a small market, it’s your only chance to get special,” he said. “We’re not a complete draw for free agents. We’re not the New Yorks and we’re not the LAs so to get the special, you got to try to get it in the draft.”
One characteristic I can’t help but like is his maturity, his feel for the situation, and love for the game. He played sports at a young age but purely for fun. He didn’t take basketball all too seriously until his sophomore year of high school when he had a large growth spurt.
“You have to have fun with the process, the game itself, working out,” Turner said. “If you don’t have fun with it, if you don’t enjoy it, you’re never going to be successful with it. If you don’t put everything you have into it, your heart and soul into it, you’re just going through the motions. If you don’t get that rush from going out there and competing, and just locking someone up and hitting a big shot, I don’t know why you play in the first place.”
[Myles Turner post-draft press conference]
Miller, his agent, was pleased that Turner landed with the Pacers. He told Bird and Pritchard a week before the draft that he thought it was a perfect match.
“I think this is a perfect fit because this is a good market for him, it’s a good tradition, and he’s a basketball enthusiast,” said Miller, who also reps Lavoy Allen. “I thought for him to be in this kind of place with the kind of style they’re going to play, the future is bright for him.”
Again, his future. The team does expect him to contribute in some fashion but it undoubtedly will take some time. Longtime Pacers scout Kevin Mackey, who has an excellent eye for talent, says it typically takes players three years to grow in the league and get comfortable. Turner would only be 22 then.
“Even though he is young, we feel like he can play for us this year and contribute for us this year,” said coach Frank Vogel. “But his upside is just off the charts. When you got a guy with a really high character, a great work ethic, and all the physical tools to be special, it’s something to be really excited about.
Listen to my one-on-one interview with Turner in the media player below, or click here
[audio:http://www.vigilantsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/150626_1on1-with-Myles-Turner-web.mp3|titles=Scott Agness interviews Myles Turner]Notes on Turner:
- Myles will wear No. 33, his high school number, after wearing 52 at Texas as a tribute to a friend, Habra Rosario, who passed away from leukemia when he was nine. “It’s the number I wore in high school. I wanted to honor my boy Habram in college. I think I’m going to stick my original number.”
- Turner has family from his mom’s side up in Fort Wayne. She is from New London, Connecticut but grew up in Fort Wayne of all places until her mid-teens.She’s independent, providing for herself since she was 13.
- His father is from Queens, NY.
- His dad’s grandma set his parents up. His mom worked for his grandma who had a single son. The two then married. Myles has a younger sister, Mya, who’s 12.
- Turner has spoken with or exchanged messages yet with any current Pacer but he did see and appreciate the tweets from Paul George and C.J. Miles Thursday night welcoming him to the team.
33 it is! #pacersnation pic.twitter.com/14pDsfXceV
— Myles Turner (@Original_Turner) June 26, 2015