9:46 PM: Turner is expected to miss 5-6 weeks and he will not require surgery, according to the team’s website.
8:14 AM: A challenging season for Evan Turner took another unfortunate turn on Tuesday, as the Trail Blazers swingman suffered a fracture in the third metacarpal of his right hand. The team confirmed the injury (via Twitter), though there’s no indication yet how much time Turner might miss.
Turner, 28, signed a massive four-year, $70MM contract with Portland in the offseason, but has gotten off to an underwhelming start with his new team. Turner’s averages in categories like PPG (9.7), RPG (3.8), APG (3.4), and FG% (.435) are down across the board, and as NBA.com’s advanced stats show, the Blazers been far more effective on offense without Turner on the court, with little change on defense.
While we wait for official word on Turner’s recovery timeline, it’s worth noting that injuries of this nature generally result in multi-week absences, so the Blazers will likely be without the veteran for the near future. During that time, players like Maurice Harkless and Allen Crabbe could be in line for increased roles.
Portland currently has a full roster of 15 guaranteed contracts, so if the team wants to add any reinforcements, a corresponding roster move would be required.
These guy’s can’t catch a break. Literally.
It really sucks that he got hurt when he started playing really good basketball, he was starting to really fit in with the team finally. Hopefully Harkless and Crabbe get into a groove while he’s out and improve with more opportunities so that when he comes back they can make a playoff push.