Philadelphia 76ers: The Evan Turner-era was WEIRD

As Evan Turner makes his way from Portland to Atlanta for his 10th NBA season, let’s take a look back at his strange tenure with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Earlier this week, the Portland Trail Blazers traded Evan Turner to the Atlanta Hawks for Kent Bazemore straight up.

Will this move make either team noticeably better or help them secure a spot in the NBA Finals in 2020? Nope, but it does inadvertently bring back memories of the last time Turner was traded; one of the weirdest eras in Philadelphia 76ers history.

First, let’s set the stage. It’s 2010; Allen Iverson has played his final game in a (recently revived) red, white, and blue jersey and ‘The Process’ is still a glimmer in Houston Rockets Vice President Sam Hinkie‘s eye. Joel Embiid was playing basketball in Florida, Ben Simmons was a middle schooler in Australia, and the Sixers had the second overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft after suffering through a 27-55 season.

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With John Wall as the consensus top player in the draft and no true number two, first-year 76ers exec Rod Thorn decided to invest his first ever pick on a 22-year-old guard/forward out of Ohio State named Evan Turner.

While the name ‘Evan Turner’ sounds more like second lead in a Pirates of the Caribbean film than an NBA superstar, the team had high hopes that their new 6-foot-7, 220 pound draftee could become a supersized ball handler along the lines of (gulp) Jason Kidd, LeBron James, and Magic Johnson – forming Philly’s backcourt of the future alongside Jrue Holiday.

Spoiler alert, that didn’t happen.

Sure, the Sixers got better under first-year head coach Doug Collins, going 41-41 in route to an abbreviated playoff berth, but that had more to do with a bounce-back performance by future GM (and one-time power forward) Elton Brand than Turner’s 7.2 points in 23 minutes of action a night.

Turner did get better and better with each passing season – averaging a career-high 17.4 points, six rebounds and a steal a game in 2013-14 – but the writing was on the wall that his time in the City of Brotherly Love was rapidly coming to a close, as the team had very little interest in extending a supersized point guard who couldn’t consistently knock down a 3 point shot (sound familiar?). While the team played well in his tenure, making the playoffs in both 2011 and 2012, they simply couldn’t get over the hump and become legitimate championship contenders, risking it all on the now infamous Andrew Bynum trade.

With free agency fast approaching and no long-term role in Brett Brown‘s rebuilding process for a 25-year-old bust(ish), Hinkie flipped Turner, and Temple-alum Lavoy Allen to the Indiana Pacers for an eventually bought out Danny Granger and a second-round pick.

Just like that, the Evan Turner-era was over in Philadelphia.

Initially viewed as a changing of the guard selection, Turner failed to develop into the heir to Allen Iverson and will ultimately be remembered as a major reason why the Philadelphia 76ers blew it all up and started the greatest rebuild in NBA history affectionately known as ‘The Process’.

Next. Ben Simmons has an MVP blueprint in Antetokounmpo. dark

And as for Turner? Well, he bounced around the league, playing for Indiana and Boston, before signing a four-year, $70 million deal with the Portland Trail Blazers in the summer of 2016 – a contract even his mother was surprised by. Ten years into his career, Turner remains gainfully employed in the NBA and looks to have a solid role in Atlanta as a supersized foil to Trae Young. What a world.