The Andre Iguodala/Evan Turner comparisons are obvious. Neither can particularly shoot well (Andre's career year notwithstanding), both are among the top 3 wing defensive rebounders, both haven't been able to create their own shot at the NBA level, and both play various levels of great defense. It's been said since the Sixers won the second pick in the Draft Lottery that Turner was coming in to replace Dre.
So when, in the past two years, Iguodala has played terrifically to ET's disappointment, the tables have, for some, turned. John Smallwood is one of those people.
For today's Philly.com, Smallwood writes:
If Turner isn't exactly in Doug Collins' doghouse, it doesn't take much to see that the coach isn't enamored with the No. 2 overall pick of the 2010 draft. Most damning are his minutes played. It's not because Meeks has started all 36 games, because Collins has always said the five guys who start might not necessarily be the five best players.
Though it seems like Smallwood missed last game when Turner started, this is the common DOUGHOUSE consensus. But then:
The problem was that, although Iguodala is a forward, he needs to handle the ball to be most effective. There were not going to be enough touches or time on the shot clock for Iguodala, Holiday and Turner to be effective when on the court together. Turner struggled through a disappointing rookie season while trying to develop his off-the-ball skills. He's not much better without the rock this season. It's not so much that Iguodala and Turner can't mesh together on the court; they just do the same things, which then makes the Sixers' offense less versatile.
I understand that he's probably doing a whole bunch of Eye-Testing here, but the Sixers 3rd best lineup (among lineups with at least 50 minutes played together according to 82games.com) is the one in which Jrue-Turner-Iguodala play next to each other (with Thaddeus Young and Elton Brand). That same lineup is the 2nd best rebounding lineup and takes the 3rd highest percentage of shots at the rim, while allowing the fewest on defense. Certainly there's statistics to suggest that their games don't fit perfectly with each other right now, but the ones I just listed are often overlooked.
Yes, Jodie Meeks does one thing much, much better than Turner does. But to trade Turner for -- well, anything according to Smallwood -- would be shortsighted unless something extremely valuable is coming back in return. Evan can help this team a ton right now on defense and on the boards and, with time, should be able to contribute significantly on the offensive end as well.
If the Sixers throw him in now, they'd be ignoring the things he does contribute and folding their cards way too early because it looks like he and Andre can't play together. It's not true.