After Domantas Sabonis emerged as an All-Star last season, the Pacers almost sent big man Myles Turner to the Celtics during the offseason in a scuttled sign-and-trade deal for forward Gordon Hayward. Turner is striving to maintain his focus for the upcoming season with Indiana and not ruminate on the Boston trade, according to J. Michael of the Indianapolis Star.
“It really was my first time going through something like that,” Turner said. “In the past, you hear your name here and there. This is the first time it really heated up.”
When they shared the court, Turner and Sabonis alternated between the center and power forward positions on offense and defense under the tutelage of former head coach Nate McMillan.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com weighed in on the first day of Cavaliers training camp, where head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has emphasized a culture of accountability. “We’re not too far off. We have the caliber guys here to really make some noise,” recently-added center Andre Drummond said. “If we don’t make it to the playoffs, we’ll be damn close.”
- Pistons head coach Dwayne Casey sees new addition Josh Jackson as a reclamation candidate a la power forward Christian Wood, per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. “It’s the same thing,” Casey notes. “Everyone was saying, ‘Dwane, don’t mess with him. Leave him alone.’ I enjoy people who have a chip on their shoulder, who’ve been almost forgotten about as Josh has been.”
- The United Center will not host fans to start the 2020/21 season for Bulls games due to the coronavirus pandemic, the team tweeted on its official account.