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Rumor: Rockets interested in Pacers’ Myles Turner if trade becomes available

Trade rumor time!

By Conrad Garcia

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Indiana Pacers v Houston Rockets Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

The Houston Rockets may be interested in trading for the Indiana Pacers’ Myles Turner, according to the rumor mill.

In an article by Jared Weiss of The Athletic, it was reported that Pacers stars Victor Oladipo and Myles Turner may be looking to move on from Indiana. According to LegionHoops, if Turner does become available, Houston would be among “over 10” teams that are interested in acquiring him.

While it may come as a surprise that the 6’11” center lands on Houston’s wish list after they committed to a 6’5” center before the trade deadline, this may be the first step in Houston implementing a new culture. After the Rockets came up short mightily against the much bigger Los Angeles Lakers, and with head coach Mike D’Antoni officially out for next year, trading for a big could help in moderating the woes that come with going super small all the time and cut their new coach some slack too.

That being said, a lot has to go their way in order for Houston to get Turner. For one, the 2019 blocks leader is under contract with Indiana until 2022-2023, meaning Houston doesn’t have the leverage of trading with a team afraid of losing their star for nothing in return. Along with having no real assets to trade, the Rockets will most likely look to have Eric Gordon as the cornerstone of a potential package. Gordon will be in only the second year of his four-year contract, one year longer than Turner’s contract, making a little less than Turner and with the risk of an inconsistent output.

If Houston can somehow get Turner and dump off Gordon’s contract in the process, this would be a great move for them. While Turner doesn’t necessarily crash the boards, averaging only 6.6 total rebounds in 2020, he gives Houston some much-needed size down low and a bonafide rim protector. Turner can also stretch the floor, averaging a solid 34.4% from deep last season on four attempts a game.

Daryl Morey will have his work cut out for him if he wants to get this deal done.

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