What do the Celtics do with… Evan Turner?

The offseason is here, and there are a lot of questions with Boston’s roster as Danny Ainge dives into the next chapter of this rebuilding process. In this series, I’ll be looking at what the Celtics choices are with certain players considering their past performance and where the team is going. We begin with the team’s only true unrestricted free agent, Evan Turner.

At a glance:

2015-16 regular statistics: 10.5 ppg, 4.9 reb, 4.4 ast. 45.6 fg%, 24.1% 3pt, 82.7% FT
2015-16 advanced statistics: 51.3% true shooting, 23.9% assist percentage, 16.9% turnover rate, 18.8% usage, 13.6 PER
Age to start next season: 28
Last season’s salary: $3,425,510

How he played this season

This season didn’t start particularly well for Turner, which may well be directly attributable to David Lee’s existence on the roster. With both Turner and Lee needing to exist in the mid-range area, and both Turner and Lee on the floor together most of the time, there was no space for Turner to operate where he operates best. So it’s no surprise there was a noticeable uptick in his performance around January, when Lee was benched. His February shooting numbers were a full 5% better than his November stats.

So as the season wore on, Turner got better. He settled into a very nice niche where he was the second unit’s primary ballhandler. He was a calming force for that group, and became a very solid end-of-game option for Brad Stevens. There were a few games where he’d hit a key shot in the back-half of the fourth quarter to stop an opponent’s run or cut a Celtics’ deficit.

He was by no means automatic, but he was a solid, dependable player who filled a specific need on offense and whose improvements on defense allowed him to be a good contributor to a good team.

What do the Celtics do with him?

The downside to Evan Turner is that he fills a very specific need, and it’s a position that may be better filled by a more skilled player offensively. There are a couple of questions to answer with Turner.

1: Are the Celtics willing to live with his limited 3-point shooting ability, or would they prefer to have a more accurate long-range option off the bench?

2: What’s the plan with Marcus Smart, and will Turner’s presence hurt Smart’s development?

Obviously, Turner has been here for both of Smart’s years in Boston, and Smart seems to be coming along fairly well. However, if we’re looking for the big third-year bump from Smart, he might need a lot more time with the ball in his hands. That might mean Turner’s spot on the bench could be earmarked for more of a 3-point threat.

Turner is really no longer a small forward. Any teams looking at Turner should really be trying to fill a need for a backup point guard, as Turner’s effectiveness really diminishes as he goes off the ball. Still, there are teams out there who might be willing to spend some cash to capture what Turner has given the Celtics.

The Celtics have much bigger fish to fry than re-signing Evan Turner. They could have more than $50 million to spend on free agents this year, and a lot upgrading to do across the board to find the scoring they desperately need. So they need to swing for the fences before figuring out what Turner might be worth to them financially.

Could the Celtics bring Turner back? Sure, but he’s not the first phone call Danny Ainge should be making on July 1. If Turner is still hanging around, unsigned, by the end of July, and the Celtics haven’t hit as big as they’d hoped, then Turner becomes more of an option for them. Even then, I wouldn’t sign him for more than a couple of years, and Turner might want some better job security than that.

So Turner is a big “wait and see.” His position is definitely one that can be upgraded by a better shooter, but it’s not inconceivable to think he’d be back in this role. Whether he returns, though, is really dependent on what other, bigger moves Ainge can pull off.