Summary

Turner entered this season as the primary backup point guard to Trae Young, but that experiment failed. Turner never contributed meaningfully, playing only 19 games, and was traded to Minnesota at the trade deadline. Turner never played a game for the Timberwolves, as they really had no interest in him.

 

In his most recent relevant play, Turner often played as a small-ball four for the Trailblazers, primarily due to his ability to make plays out of the high post, and also caused by his inability to be a threat from behind the arc. Turner's woes as a jump shooter could cause his career to end sooner than expected. If his defense and ability to finish inside decline as he enters his thirties, Turner will not have many skills to fall back on. I do not expect Turner to develop a three point shot at this stage of his career, so I would not be surprised if Turner has to settle for a minimum contract this offseason.

 

Cap Considerations

Turner will be an unrestricted free agent with a $27.9 million cap hold and full Bird rights. Since the Timberwolves will almost certainly be operating over the salary cap, they will retain Turner's Bird rights, and have no restrictions on re-signing him. However, the Timberwolves are unlikely to re-sign Turner, and his cap hold will be removed once he signs with another team.

 

Other teams will have multiple ways to sign Tolliver as even teams without cap space could possibly use any of the Non-Taxpayer, Taxpayer, or Room Mid-Level Exceptions to sign him. There's also the probability that Turner will only be getting minimum offers this offseason.