Myles Turner deserves your undivided attention

The 2015 NBA Draft is an important pivot point in the timeline of exemplary centers. Drafts often become categorized by phrases such as “deep,” “guard-heavy,” “top-heavy” and many others, but 2015 will likely become known as the Draft of the Unicorns.

Karl-Anthony Towns went No. 1 to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Kristaps Porzingis went No. 4 to the New York Knicks, and the Indiana Pacers did that thing where they turn a late lottery pick into their future franchise pillar with Myles Turner at No. 11. Back in 2010, the Pacers selected the team’s current superstar Paul George with the No. 10 overall pick.

It’s important to remember George, because the way the organization handled him and Turner a mirror images in terms of their early-career growth. Instead of the full-on trial-by-fire approach, Indiana instead allowed both players to get their feet wet as rookies before unleashing them on the league as sophomores.

Read More: Porzingis is the Knicks future, but there’s no need to rush

Here are George’s first two seasons with the Pacers:

And here are Turner’s first two seasons thus far:

Focus not simply on the increased in statistics across the board but the way they were introduced to the league. Neither were full-time starters at the genesis of their careers and instead were allowed to adjust to the pace, strength and intelligence of NBA basketball before being thrust into the limelight.

Rather than entering on the red carpet like his peers Towns and Porzingis, Turner was welcomed in through the back door. This trio will inevitably remain connected by comparison their entire careers, but Turner didn’t even garner a mention in Bill Simmons’ latest column on the unicorns of today’s NBA.

Turner does not need or crave the spotlight to be considered elite, even at just 20-years-old. The plus side for the Pacers is George is still just 26-years-old himself, so this pair of two-way, generational talents should be chained together for years to come. Indiana has been disappointing (17-18 right now) and the promised uptempo change hasn’t quite taken hold just yet. But George and Turner give the Pacers something to continue building around.

While Towns, Porzingis and Joel Embiid garner the majority of headlines night after night, Turner is quietly staking his case as one of the league’s best young 5s as well. His offensive numbers have not reached the stature of his peers, but he’s starting to stretch the floor behind the 3-point line, and his block percentage of 7.09 is just under Embiid’s at 7.76, both of which tower over Porzingis’ (4.46) and Towns’ (3.50).

Here you can see how Turner rates against the other stretch 5s across the league currently. In terms of the combined ability to knock down the 3 and block a high rate of shots on the other end, Turner and Embiid are in a class of their own.

Reminder: Turner isn’t even old enough to drink a hard Shirley Temple with Embiid yet! He doesn’t turn 21 until March, yet his game is already far beyond his years.

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Teams with talents like Turner obviously want and need them on the floor as much as possible, so it’s impressive he’s only fouled out three times in his first 93 games. Blocking shots, or altering shots, without constantly being in foul trouble is invaluable for a franchis and he should only be able to improve his decision-making in that area as he gains experience.

The aim here is not to trash others being mentioned more than Turner. Towns, Porzingis and Embiid are the future of the NBA, but Turner belongs in the barber shop talk regarding the best young 5s in this league.

In his third year, Paul George made the All-Star game, earned Most Improved honors, made All-NBA third team and All-Defensive second team. Those accolades will be extremely difficult to match, but the unassuming Turner is on his way to a plethora of achievements himself.