A midseason report of the Indiana Pacers shopping their talent around the NBA was a bolt out of the blue. The report stated that the Pacers are willing to trade Domantas Sabonis, Myles Turner, and/or Caris LeVert. While no teams have traded for the trio yet, the Toronto Raptors might have all the reasons to trade for Myles Turner.

The Raptors started the season poor, just to bounce back and now fight for a direct spot in the 2022 NBA Playoffs. Right now, they are seventh in the conference, but if they get Turner, they might be a force to be reckoned with. It might seem strong to say, but they might even be a valid candidate for the championship.

Thus, here are two reasons why landing Myles Turner in a trade would make Raptors NBA title contender.

Inside presence 

The Raptors do have a good setup, but they lack in some regards. For instance, they are currently starting in a three-forward formation. OG Anunoby starts at small forward, joined by Scottie Barnes at the four, and Pascal Siakam at the five. They are bolstered with Chris Boucher off the bench, but they still lack a true center. Siakam, Barnes, Boucher are all six-foot-nine, while Anunoby is just six-foot-seven. However, if they manage to get Myles Turner, they will include a six-foot-eleven player that really plays above his height.

Turner uses his long arms to be a proficient shot blocker and a presence on the boards. While his numbers do not look overly impressive, especially the fairly low average of 7.1 rebounds this season, he is playing in the frontcourt with Domantas Sabonis, who is usually taking most of the boards himself. Still, Turner is a good rebounder and a great defensive presence in the paint, something the Raptors need.

Defensively, the Raptors are fairly okay in the paint. They are 8th in the league in opponent points per game in the paint, 13th in blocks, and they allow the fifth-least two-point attempts in the league. Offensively, however, they need an improvement inside. Getting Sabonis might look like a better option, but they would be in jeopardy of losing some of the defensive prowess they have inside. With Turner, they will improve on their 25th spot in paint scoring in the league, but also improve on already great numbers defensively.

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Myles Turner would also slide right into their starting line-up. At the surface, this move might prove to be counterintuitive, as he would get one of Siakam, Anunoby, and Barnes out of the starting line-up. However, the Raptors are dead last in the NBA in bench scoring, so getting one of them to run against second line-ups of opposing teams would be a major boost, while also losing nothing in terms of the strength of their starting five.

They need a big to tussle with the rest of the Eastern Conference 

Getting somewhere in the postseason without a big man is a tough job. The Milwaukee Bucks have Giannis Antetokounmpo, who might not be the bog-standard big, but he plays way above his listed height, due to his long arms. The Nets have the same situation with Kevin Durant. The Miami Heat have Bam Adebayo, while the Philadelphia 76ers have MVP candidate Joel Embiid. With all due respect to Pascal Siakam, he is simply not going to match up with these kinds of guys.

Obviously, Myles Turner is far from an MVP candidate, or an all-time great like the Greek Freak or KD. Still, he is an improvement on having virtually no one to really anchor the defense from the paint. Siakam is great, but he cannot play 48 minutes per night and he is not exactly a defensive anchor. Getting Myles Turner is not ideal, obviously, but in the current climate of the NBA, Turner is worth a lot to any team that is looking to jump in the standings. The Raptors need to pounce on this opportunity and get their hands on the Pacers big man.

While comparing Myles Turner with the likes of Marc Gasol is questionable, there is still an argument to be made about the defensive similarities of these two players. Gasol came with a lot more to offer offensively and with more NBA experience, but with the absence of other options, pulling this move might draw some parallels to the 2019 NBA Champion Raptors. Of course, we have to acknowledge that Kawhi Leonard is not here, but they have a deeper squad now and even without the Klaw, getting Turner would make them contenders in the volatile Eastern Conference.