One person, one city! After years of trading rumors, Myers Turner s patience has finally been rewarded

It's not surprising that Miles Turner showed his value as an all-round inside in the NBA Finals.

What is really surprising is that Miles Turner does it all as an Indiana Pacers player. Considering so many times in the past, he is always regarded as the "puzzle missing" in the eyes of other teams and has always been in the vortex of trading rumors.

However, the Pacers selected, the player ranked eighth among active players in the number of games (703 games) - only behind Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, Jaylen Brown, Devin Booker and Jason Tatum.

To further understand the rarity of this persistence, we can look at the situation of Shea Gilgers Alexander: He was traded after spending his rookie season in Los Angeles, so he no longer fits in the category of "single-team play" - even if he meets the number of appearances under the Oklahoma City jersey is just a little more than half of the number of appearances at the Pacers.

All the above players have played in the NBA Finals. Now, Turner, who is in the last year of his contract, has also added his name to this list.

"I am a loyal person," Turner said in a recent interview with Yahoo Sports. "This has been almost always my label, and I want to do it with a beginning and an end. Of course, it is an honor for each team to see my value and hope that I will be a part of their system. But I want to do it where I am selected."

He played for the Pacers long enough to be able to play alongside players such as Paul George and Monta Ellis, the team's previous generation core players, which goes back more than a decade. A few years later, he was in the Pacers with Domantas Sabonis and Victor Oladipo, who looked to be heading towards the next great shooting guard.

He has played under Frank Vogel, Nate McMillan, Nate Bjork Glenn and now Rick Carlisle and other coaches.

"He is extremely loyal and has a great ability to focus on important matters," Carlisle said on Tuesday. "Over the years, I think all really good players may be involved in trade rumors at some point. Whether it is leaked by other teams or someone just spreads news and creates content at will, no matter what the reason."

Just as Turner and Sabonis's partner highlights the need for a team to send away a big player, just like the Sacramento Kings have had multiple point guards - this makes both teams naturally a trading partner in the 2021-22 season. At that time, Turner's name had long been associated with all kinds of teams.

"It's a lot of things involved. You know, my initial emotion was to feel a little marginalized by the team," Turner revealed to Yahoo Sports. "You'll feel that your value is not as powerful as you think it's. But then you'll gradually understand that it's just part of the business."

But the Pacers chose the former between Turner and Sabonis and got Halliburton in a deal with the Kings. Although Turner was in an injury at the time — he missed the second half of that season due to foot stress reaction, the deal brought Turner back to center and equipped him with a real point guard.

However, no one could have expected that the Pacers, who won only five games after the trade deadline, would prepare for the division finals two years later and set foot on the finals stage this year.

"It takes a lot of patience," Turner said. "I don't call it waiting for my own opportunity, but keep a low profile, do things the right way, and let the rest go with the flow. So I think when that trade happened, it became the last piece of puzzle that allowed me to get into my most comfortable position."

Perhaps because of the limited focus on the Pacers, it's easy to forget that Turner represents all the expectations of the teams today for big players.

Can you open up the space? No problem, he averaged nearly 6 three-pointers per game, shooting 40%. Can you defend in space and at the basket? No problem, no problem, he has won the league block king twice and averaged 2 blocks per game this season. Are you strong enough to finish the end at the basket? No problem, no problem, no problem.

For some, these numbers may not look remarkable - he averaged 15 points, 5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game during this playoff journey, but everyone can see how valuable Turner is to the Pacers.

"We're constantly sending each other a clip clip to discuss how to do better in the pick-and-roll, how I help him, how he helps me, whatever the situation is," Halliburton said. "We got along very well, and I think it's a lot of success for us." Halliburton couldn't help laughing when he thought of the big guy who was the first partner in Sacramento was Rijon Holmes.

"In my career, I always thought I would work best with the big guy who is good at altitude and poses a threat in the pick-and-roll." Halliburton estimated that since he partnered with Turner, he might have only had "three air relays". "Now, after a long-term partner with Miles, I feel like he has released a lot of my abilities. Playing with him is an interesting combination. Turner won't receive a lot of air relays... It's different, and our league is different. Most of the time he's a slug-type player, and when he goes down, it does open up space for me, which is interesting. ”

Even in this series, the Thunder used a large and four-squad lineup to put Turner against Chet Homgren or Isaiah Haltenstein. He was solid enough to hold his place in the paint area. The 3-pointer he hit in the first game was crucial for the Pacers to complete an incredible reversal, and maybe they needed more of that. But Turner was cautiously avoiding the urge to take over the responsibility.

"Keep being yourself, doing the things that got me here," he told Yahoo Sports, "When the game goes to the finals, there is no need to change, and keep doing all the little things that make you efficient at the beginning. ”

To my credit, Carlisle doesn't want to participate in any discussion about where Turner is going as a free agent, and it looks like the Pacers will actively try to keep him this summer.

"I haven't heard his name appear in rumors lately," Carlisle said a little impatiently, "I don't know what you're talking about. Unless you are talking about free agents, we won't touch on anything about this. This is risky, so I will avoid this topic. "

Carlisle has always emphasized that the Finals are 19 days long, so Turner won't admit to looking too much at the free agent future.

"I look forward to the days ahead of me, and when I get to that moment, I will focus on the present," Turner said. "There is free time between games, so you can't look too much at the future. ”