On February 7, Beijing time, after sending Le Ver to the Cavaliers, the Pacers are likely to continue to trade before the trade deadline, after all, according to the previously exposed news, the current Pacers except brogdon, who cannot be traded this season, no player is not for sale, including Sabonis Jr. and Turner are on the shelves. The Spurs, who are currently fighting for play-off spots, have been exposed to the double towers of the Intentional Pacers.
However, judging by the chips and lineup configuration that the Spurs have, it is unlikely that they will take the Pacers' twin towers at the same time, and Popovich is likely to face a 2-1 situation. So the question is, should he choose Sabonis Jr. or Turner?
Before answering this question, let's take a look at the characteristics of both. Sabonis Jr. is an All-Star player who can play the inside axis on the offensive end, averaging 18.9 points, 12.1 rebounds and 5 assists this season, and can attack and pass on the offensive end, and his technique is also very comprehensive. But his shortcomings are poor defensive performance, while his three-point shooting rate is only 32%, although he can shoot, but not stable enough.
Turner, who has worked with Popovich on the U.S. national team, has averaged 12.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.8 blocks this season. Shooting 33.2 percent from three-point range, Sabonis Jr. is also a type that can shoot but is unstable.
Obviously, Sabonis Jr. attacked and Turner attacked. And considering that the Spurs already have a well-defended No. 5 player like Pelter, it seems that they should pursue Sabonis Jr. more. But in fact, the probability of the Spurs chasing Sabonis Jr. is very low, but Turner should be their target.
This is determined by two reasons. First, judging from the difficulty of the transaction or the chips that the exchange needs to pay, the asking price of Little Sabonis will be much higher than Thater. The current Pacers' asking price for Sabonis Jr. should be similar to last season's Vucevic, that is, two first-round signings with a young rookie and a tie-up expired contract.
Turner's asking price should be similar to that of LeVert, who has just been traded, and 1 first round and 1 second round plus a balanced expired contract can be satisfied. In terms of transaction difficulty, it is much lower than that of Sabonis Jr. The Spurs have a high probability of Thaddeus Young and Lonnie Walker, plus the first-round pick for the Bulls and their own second-round picks for DeRozan, and they can change to Turner.
Second, from the perspective of the fit of the lineup, Turner is more suitable than Sabonis Jr. The Spurs' current best-performing rosters are Pletal, Johnson, McDermott, White and Murray. If Sabonis Jr. is traded to start in the No. 5 position, then the Spurs' defense will probably have a big problem; if one of Johnson or McDermott goes to play the No. 4 starter, because Polllet has no shooting ability, Murray and White's three-pointers are not stable, and the team's offensive space will be a big problem. So Sabonis Jr. is good, but he doesn't match the Spurs' lineup, and in this case, paying too much chips for him is obviously a bit too risky.
Looking at Turner again, if he is used to replace Peltel to play the starting position of the No. 5, the Spurs' defensive ability will not decline, and the sense of space on the offense will be better. Now that Collins is back, Popovich could also consider having Turner and Collins on the same stage to form a duo that can open up space.
So if you have to choose 1 of the 2 in the Pacers' twin towers, turner is more suitable than Sabonis Jr. in terms of trade difficulty and lineup fit. Even the Spurs can find other teams to pull a three-way deal, get Turner at the same time, send away many teams interested in Peltel (currently asking for 1 first round and 1 rotation of players), which is equivalent to only 2 rounds of signing to upgrade to the No. 5 position, but also to minimize the risk.