Welcome to the Sixers' interpretation of progress.
"We're looking forward to the draft," Stefanski told me a few days ago. "We like a few people we've talked to. [Turner] is definitely one of those people. He simply knows how to play the game of basketball. Whatever decision we make, whatever direction we go in, we would hope to go in the direction of a player of his caliber. You'll have to wait until Thursday to see who that player is."
When you're the Sixers, you have no choice but to pick a player of Turner's caliber, and it has very little to do with the two triple-doubles he registered against suspect competition last season or the 20 points per game he averaged in the Big Ten.
Every NBA scout worth his salt applauds Turner's basketball IQ, his scoring ability, and the potential for him to play shooting guard, small forward, and point guard.
Almost in unison, NBA scouts have said Turner "has a great feel for the game. He's the most skilled player in the draft behind [expected No. 1 pick] Kentucky's John Wall. The question is not whether he's the right pick for the Sixers."
Essentially, it's whether they can take a talent like Turner and put the right pieces in place for him to shine.
"I have no doubt that they can and they will," Turner told me just days ago. "It would be one thing if I were some one-dimensional ballplayer, but I'm not. I consider myself versatile. I'm not a scorer or a rebounder anymore than I'm a point guard or shooting guard. I'm a ballplayer. That's what I pride myself on being. And I work on my game every single day to prove just that. Nothing will change in that regard."
Give Turner credit for this much: Evidently, he does his homework.
