About two years ago, I repeatedly made the (then possibly controversial) observation that Myles Turner might be better than Jabari Parker, and that he was the one I would choose if forced to pick between the two. That was during the 2016-17 season; how are things different now?
Neither one is playing as well as they were back then, which is really sad. Young players don’t always just keep getting better. In their cases, they peaked quickly and then declined. Turner is probably the more valuable player even if he doesn’t have the same scoring pedigree as Parker. He’s getting paid way less, as he’s still on his rookie deal (get ready for four 18-million dollar years after this, though), while Parker is bilking the Bulls for 20 million this year.
I still like Turner’s upside as a stretchy shot-blocking big. His jumper has regressed, but man, I remember all those games where he was just splashing those things over and over, and I can imagine him doing that again. His shot-blocking is even better this year, which is nice. It’s not all bad! And when he blocks shots, he REJECTS them. None of this pansy timid stuff. He wants to destroy any shot that comes near him.