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Turner On the Rise in Annual Player Rankings

With basketball season closing in, it's time for the annual tradition of outlets like ESPN and Sports Illustrated to publish their Top 100 NBA Players lists.

For the Pacers, no player ranked higher than Myles Turner on the list, who came in at 36 on ESPN's list (ranked 50 before last season), and 68 on Sports Illustrated's list (unranked before last season).

Also making the lists this year for the Pacers is offseason acquisition Victor Oladipo, landing at 78 on ESPN's rankings and 77 in Sports Illustrated's.

ESPN's bullish projection of Turner is based on the young center's opportunity to see increased touches this season, as well as his career accolades through his first two seasons.

"Turner is one of just five players in history to average 14 points, seven rebounds and two blocks per game by the age of 20. The others: Anthony Davis, Kevin Garnett, Chris Webber and Shaquille O'Neal," writes ESPN.

Some notable names that Turner landed in front of on ESPN's list were Raptors All-Star DeMar DeRozan (39) and Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge (45). Just beating out Turner on the list were Khris Middleton (35) of the Bucks and Kemba Walker (34) of the Hornets.