Behind the Numbers: Domantas Sabonis or Myles Turner?

Pacer forward Domantas Sabonis has blossomed ever since coming to Indy in the trade deal for Paul George. He's blossomed so much, in fact, that there's been an ongoing debate since the latter half of last year on whether Sabonis or incumbent starter and draft prodigy Myles Turner should start. That question seemed to be answered when Turner recently received a 4-year, $72 million contract extension. As the beginning of the season has unfolded, the argument shouldn't be put to rest quite yet.

With the Pacers only playing in six games thus far, the sample size is small in terms of offensive production. Sitting at 4-2, the season is looking optimistic. What's not however, is Myles Turner's rebound numbers. Through the first six games he's only managed to grab 5.2 rebounds in 26 minutes per game. His counterpart, Sabonis, has been able to snag 10 rebounds in only 22 minutes per game. The argument against giving Turner a lucrative extension was the fact his game hadn't really changed since he came into the league. He still gets bullied in the block, still can't produce high rebounding numbers, and still has a poor post game. Entering his fourth season he's only averaging 6.5 rebounds a game as a 7-foot center. What's even more entertaining is diving into the on-off statistics in the early season thus far between Turner and Sabonis.

Take into consideration there is a long season ahead and there's a lot of unknown that will unfold as the season progresses but in the small sample size we do have Sabonis is highly outperforming Turner. While Sabonis has been on the floor the offensive rating skyrockets to +5.6 with an overall team offensive rating of 123.1. With Turner on the floor, the offensive rating plummets to -6 and an overall team offensive rating of 116.8. Total rebounding percentage sits at +7.6 with Sabonis on the floor and -6.6 with Turner on the floor. Keep in mind that rebounding has never been one of Turners strong suits but with how big he is it shouldn't be such a weakness. The one main discrepancy between the two are block numbers. Turner has always been an animal blocking and disrupting shots. With Turner on the floor the block percentage raises to +2.1 and drops to -1 with Sabonis.

Similarly, advanced stats are another area where Sabonis is outperforming Turner. In the seven-game series against the Cavaliers last season Sabonis had a PER of 18.7 compared to Turner's 15.3. So far this season, Sabonis holds a 27.8 PER compared to 17.6 that Turner has produced (Numbers inflated due to their only being six games). With Sabonis you tend to get some nasty posters too.

One thing advanced statistics do not determine is personality and effectiveness of role. While Sabonis statistically has been outproducing Turner they seem to complement each other well. Sabonis is everything Turner is not and vice versa. Sabonis works hard in the post while Turner can knock down threes (a trait Sabonis possess as well when left open). Playing them both on the court has proven to be not so effective throughout their time together in Indy. So, what's the answer? Split their minutes evenly to equalize their talents. Sabonis should get the starting nod. Logically it makes sense. Turner's talent would simply destroy second units and pairing him with Tyreke Evans would open endless pick and pop/roll opportunities. The only issue? Turner is the $72 million man. That contract will hold like a cloud over the Pacers coaching staff until proven otherwise. Either player is effective being the starting five but why not give Sabonis a try? He's proven he deserves it so far.

Image credits: NBA.com

Video Credits: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEjOSbbaOfgnfRODEEMYlCw/featured

All statistics gathered from: basketball-reference.com