The Indiana Pacers are still on the playoff hunt despite the team's new frontline and it's in large part to Paul George's adjustment and Myles Turner's emergence.
Local daily Indy Star took a closer look at the team's development from the small-ball experiment to the "big man lineup."
"I like it," Paul George said. "It increases our scoring, our rebounding and our whole defensive disposition to have length with two bigs out there."
The Pacers had the courage to try out this new approach in large part due to the emergence of Myles Turner. Coach Frank Vogel praised their first round pick.
"You don't know when you're dealing with a rookie, a 19-year-old player, how soon it's going to come," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "There's going to be some ups and some downs but if you look at this at what we think Myles can be. ... This is what this team should look like out there."
Turner missed 20 games due to injury but he has worked his way to the starting lineup.
Vogel added: "I think the kid's earned it (being a starter). Our team needs a spark. He's played extremely well once he's gotten his legs under him after this injury. It's glaring to me that we need to increase his role, his minutes, his everything."
Turner's rise has led SI.com to believe that he could be the Pacers long-term answer at the center position-the new type of center that Roy Hibbert wasn't.
If Turner can get to the point where he's moving, sizing up, and contesting like that on a consistent basis, he'll rank as one of the better defensive bigs in the league," Rob Mahoney of SI said. "The contemporary Pacers move forward with a new starter cast in the image of the modern big man - all range shooting and rangy defense."
Coming in late at the lottery and impacting his team in a major way, Turner could be the steal of the 2015 NBA Draft.
