Evan Turner and the Celtics

[jonathanlambert33]

The Celtics seem to have signed Evan Turner as a free agent, probably not the number two pick most of the tank commanders were hoping for at the beginning of last year.
Reports are that this is just part of the mid-level exception, and likely a short term contract, so the money is not a concern. But the Turner signing brings the Celtics to 15 players with guaranteed money and that much closer to the tax line, limiting some flexibility and squeezing out the three non-guaranteed players under contract, most notably Christapher Johnson.

It is hard to tell at this point whether the Turner signing makes further trades more or less likely. On the one hand, as I noted, roster and financial flexibility are somewhat more restricted, on the other hand the roster may make even less sense than it did, so trades seem more likely. Given that, I decided to take a look at Turner in the context of the current Celtics lineup, to see how he might or might not fit, which can also shed light on the trade question.

Turner can play either shooting guard or small forward. Last year according to 82 Games, Turner played almost 75% of his minutes as a small forward, while his Indiana playing time was more evenly split. On this current roster I think Turner probably gets more time at small forward, especially if they are serious about playing Marcus Smart off the ball.

Here is how Turner compares to the Celtics current small forwards using some of the advanced overall metrics, color formatted to show the relative strength:

http://nyloncalculus.com/2014/07/23/evan-turner-boston-celtics/