Evan Turner to Trail Blazers: Contract Details, Reaction

Former No. 2 overall pick Evan Turner was one of the primary reasons the Boston Celtics made the playoffs in 2015-16, but he moved on by signing a four-year, $70 million contract with the Portland Trail Blazers. The team announced the move Thursday.

Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical was the first to report the 27-year-old's new deal on July 1.

It's not surprising Turner signed with a different team this offseason. Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com previously noted Boston held his early Bird rights and could offer a deal that started close to only $6 million, assuming it wasn't "willing to eat up valuable cap space" that it likely needed to pursue superstar-caliber free agents.

Forsberg said Turner was the Celtics' "only true unrestricted free agent," but those limited rights and his value after a couple of impressive seasons in Boston decreased the team's chances of bringing him back before the 2016-17 campaign.

Despite the factors working against Boston's efforts to re-sign Turner, he did suggest to Comcast SportsNet (via Forsberg) he would consider giving the team a hometown discount: "I joke with people, this is the first time I left an exit meeting and the team wanted me back."

The same on-court traits that may have led Boston to want him back also attracted his new team. Forsberg called Turner "an invaluable Swiss Army knife" because of his overall versatility and ability to play multiple positions and contribute in a variety of ways.

Celtics coach Brad Stevens echoed that sentiment: "I can't imagine anybody being more valuable off the bench than Evan. He's been extremely valuable. He guards three positions a night, sometimes four positions. Obviously we have him with the ball all the time. He's just had a great year and really impacted us in the last two years.”

He will now guard those different positions for the Blazers.

Turner entered the league in 2010 when the Philadelphia 76ers selected him with the second overall pick out of Ohio State. He played for the 76ers until the Indiana Pacers picked him up in a trade during the 2013-14 season.

He signed with the Celtics the following offseason and continued serving as a solid scoring option. Turner has averaged double-digit points three different years in his career and is comfortable handling the ball and generating the offense by attacking the basket, hitting from mid-range or setting up teammates.

The best two seasons of his career from an assists perspective have come with the Celtics, and the 6'7" forward is also a decent rebounder:

Season	Team	Points	Assists	Rebounds	Field-Goal Percentage
2010-11	Philadelphia 76ers	7.2	2	3.9	42.5
2011-12	Philadelphia 76ers	9.4	2.8	5.8	44.6
2012-13	Philadelphia 76ers	13.3	4.3	6.3	41.9
2013-14	Philadelphia 76ers/Indiana Pacers	14.0	3.2	5.0	42.5
2014-15	Boston Celtics	9.5	5.5	5.1	42.9
2015-16	Boston Celtics	10.5	4.4	4.9	45.6

Turner finished fifth in Sixth Man of the Year voting after his 2015-16 campaign with Boston, which underscores the value he can provide for a contender that is looking for a strong second unit during grueling postseason pushes.

What's more, Turner will only be 28 years old at the start of the 2016-17 season and probably has a few prime years of production remaining. So long as he continues to impact the game in so many different ways, Portland will receive that prime production during this new deal.

The Blazers surprised many by making the playoffs and winning a series despite losing forward LaMarcus Aldridge in free agency last offseason, largely thanks to the production of guards Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum.

Portland needed production elsewhere in the lineup in order to take the next step, though, especially on the wing with both Maurice Harkless and Allen Crabbe hitting restricted free agency.

Turner provides the Blazers with high-quality depth at the position, and if he serves in a starting role unlike his time in Boston, his best performance may be yet to come.