The Milwaukee Bucks gave Myles Turner $109 million in free agency to anchor their identity on both sides of the ball. That Doc Rivers keeps giving significant minutes to Jericho Sims and Bobby Portis in his place is a concerning sign of where Turner stands with his head coach. Does Rivers even trust him in crunch time? More than once, Rivers has excluded Turner from the closing lineup.
Over a quarter of the way through the season, the Bucks can no longer dismiss it all as growing pains in a new system. They aren't using Turner like a $100 million player and, frankly, he isn't playing like one.
Turner hasn't inspired confidence, but Rivers losing faith doesn't help
Of course, fans can't just point the finger at Rivers if he's reluctant to depend on Turner. He hasn't stepped up as a scorer. He's not rebounding. The Bucks' $100 million man has yet to live up to that billing. 12.5 points per game on 43.6 percent shooting isn't what they had in mind when they gave him that big contract.
Turner's lack of aggression remains flustering. After bullying his way to a season-high 24 points against the Heat, he reverted to standing out on the perimeter as an offensive accessory. In a soul-crushing loss to the Wizards, Turner went 3-of-10 from the field for just nine points, and only got up two shots inside the arc. He delivered a similar performance in the Bucks' NBA Cup elimination game versus the Knicks.
The return of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Porter Jr. may have something to do with that, but the Bucks still need Turner to do more than catch-and-shoot unnecessarily deep threes.
Rebounding has been an issue as well. Every Pacers fan knows that Turner is not great on the glass, partly because he typically lingers out on the perimeter, but his deficiencies have been glaring of late. Over his past three games, he has come down with nine boards combined.
Is Sims the answer? Desperate for rebounding, Rivers is falling back on him more and more. Sims doesn't do much outside the paint, but he has piled up 15 boards in two games. If Turner can't outplay him in critical minutes, that's a major problem.
Ditto for Turner and Portis. In a late-game scenario, Rivers explained closing with Portis due to the Bucks' need for scoring. While Portis can give them that boost, he is more of a defensive liability than ever, and his rebounds are way down. With their struggles on that end of the floor, the Bucks can't have that.
While Turner has underwhelmed, the Bucks can't simply move off him in favor of Sims and Portis. On top of taking up $25 million on this year's payroll, Turner is still their best option for offense-defense balance. Yet against the Wizards, he got just 26 minutes despite recording a plus-10 in the box score (Portis was a minus-7, Sims a minus-9). Foul trouble wasn't an issue. The Bucks aren't paying Turner to warm the bench. Make it make sense.
On the one hand, the reality may be that he isn't what the Bucks thought they were getting. Buyer beware. On the other hand, he isn't entirely responsible for the coaching staff's apparent lack of trust. Turner isn't being aggressive enough himself, so put the ball in his hands more often. Give him the green light, draw up plays where Turner is either meant to score or pass it out from the post. Direct him down in the paint more often, where he can scoop up a few more rebounds just by being there.
That might not fix anything, but the team can't sit on their hands any longer, using Turner in a limited capacity. For Turner and the Bucks, now's the time to sink or swim.