Evan Turner’s agent, David Falk, confirmed to several media outlets Monday night that his client has indeed agreed to a contract that would make him the newest member of the Boston Celtics.
Falk did not discuss the terms of Turner’s deal but said culture, not money, was what attracted the free-agent swingman to Boston.
“There are teams that offered him one-year deals,” Falk told the Boston Herald, which first reported the deal Monday. “There are teams that offered him multi-year deals. But I think the deal here is secondary to the environment.”
An important piece of that environment is Celtics head coach Brad Stevens, who has long had a relationship with Turner and previously employed the 25-year-old’s college coach, Ohio State’s Thad Matta, on his staff at Butler.
Turner’s representation hopes playing under Stevens will help the former No. 2 overall pick finally play up to his potential — something he has failed to do through his first four years in the NBA.
“Boston all along has been probably our No. 1 destination,” Falk said. “I felt what Evan needed was to kind of replicate the relationship that he had with coach Brett Brown in Philadelphia, which I think worked out tremendously well for him. We were really looking mostly for an environment more than geography. Brad has known Evan since high school, and we think that the very personal that college coaches have with their players is more in line with what we experienced with Brett.”
Turner averaged 17.4 points in 54 games for the Philadelphia 76ers last season before being traded to the Indiana Pacers and seeing his playing time plummet. He was nearly nonexistent in the playoffs, averaging 3.3 points and 2.2 rebounds off the bench, and played a grand total of four minutes in the Pacers’ six-game Eastern Conference finals loss to the Miami Heat.
