Plenty of names make no sense for Warriors, but Turner would fit

From the farfetched department among Warriors trade rumors, we give you Damian Lillard and Ben Simmons. Big names, but please: Not happening.

Interesting, but not filling the biggest need: Bradley Beal and Pascal Siakam.

Oh, for heaven’s sake:

Collin Sexton.

There’s one name, however, that strikes a realistic chord: Myles Turner.

It has long been argued here that the Warriors need a frontcourt size upgrade to fend off the wave of excellent centers in the Western Conference. Yes, the team needs shooting, but it also needs proper floor spacing — at which point Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson will make most other teams wish they had that kind of shooting.

We’ve also held firm on keeping James Wiseman ,so he won’t be mentioned again — except to note that Thompson, a caring soul and master of chill, invited Wiseman for a little spin on his boat the other day. Very cool moment among, we would hope, future teammates.

The Indiana Pacers have always liked Turner, but over the past year, they’ve discovered he isn’t a good fit with

Domantas Sabonis, a fastrising AllStar, on their front line. We’ll see how new head coach Rick Carlisle feels about it, but that awkward dynamic isn’t going to change, and it’s not surprising to hear that Portland, Charlotte, New York and the Lakers are among teams interested in Turner.

The Warriors should join that group, intrigued by a 6foot11 player who can shoot (including the 3pointer), defend (imagine Turner out there with Thompson,

Draymond Green and Wiseman, who Green has insisted “will be a great defensive player”) and protect the rim (twice led the league in blocked shots, including this past season at 3.4 per game).

Perhaps the cost would be

Andrew Wiggins, Eric Paschall and the No. 7 pick in the draft. Some have speculated it would have to involve a signandtrade arrangement with Kelly Oubre Jr. Maybe a third team would be included, and salaries must be matched.

But it’s worth exploring, ideally at the trade deadline after the Warriors get a look at Wiseman as a secondyear player.

Often wanting, never dull

Streamofconsciousness recollections of the Phoenix Suns, about to play in their first Finals since 1993:

In the inaugural season, 196869, fans were treated to the backcourt of Gail Goodrich and Dick Van Arsdale — with Paul Silas and the legendary Connie Hawkins joining them the following year. Hawkins had seen his best days, on the New York playgrounds and in the ABA, but he had the best of his four seasons in Phoenix (24.6 points per game) and made firstteam allNBA . ... They were icons in the twilight, but for those who recall the pioneers of lifechanging dunks, Hawkins and Gus Johnson were Suns teammates in October and November of 1972 . ... Warriors fans remain bitter about Phoenix’s first playoff team, 1976, when Paul Westphal, Alvan Adams, Curtis Perry, Gar Heard and Ricky Sobers (the one who really ticked off Rick Barry) led the Suns past Golden State in seven games. Heard hit one of the alltime desperation shots in the Finals, forcing a third overtime against Boston, but the Celtics won that Game 5 and the series . ... Oddly, and even with the addition of talented Ron Lee (out of Oregon), the Suns sank to a lastplace 3448 the following year . ... For three seasons (197780), Westphal and Walter Davis made magic together . ... The NBA’s first slam dunk contest was held in 1984, and the Suns’

Larry Nance outperformed

Julius Erving to win it . ... Adams, Westphal, Tom Chambers, Dan Majerle, Don Buse — for years, Phoenix led the league in suntans . ... Chambers would prefer to be remembered for his flying, twohand dunks. ... One heck of a backcourt: Kevin Johnson and Jeff Hornacek (198892) ... The Suns made Steve Kerr the 50th draft pick (out of Arizona) in 1988 but he played sparingly and didn’t see the court during the 1989 Western Conference semifinal victory over the Warriors. He got traded to Cleveland that September.

Charles Barkley showed up for the 199293 season, won the MVP award and led the Suns to the Finals, where they twice won in Chicago but eventually lost in six games to Michael Jordan’s Bulls. The title was clinched when John Paxson, left alone on the left wing, drilled a 3pointer with 3.9 seconds left .... Jason Kidd arrived in trade from Dallas in December of ’96 and helped the Suns reach the playoffs five straight times, but they never got past the second round . ...

Steve Nash signed as a free agent in 2004 and immediately took charge of head coach Mike D’Antoni’s “seven seconds or less” offense, winning the first of his two straight MVP awards. With

Amar’e Stoudemire, Shawn Marion and Joe Johnson among Nash’s teammates, the Suns took a heartbreaking playoff loss to San Antonio in the 2005 Western Conference finals. They were never quite the same after Johnson was traded to Atlanta that summer, although they did get back in the conference finals in ’06, losing to Dallas ... A lot of talent graced the organization over the next several years — Shaquille O’Neal, Grant Hill, Jason Richardson, Goran Dragic, Leandro Barbosa, Vince Carter — but the Suns fell short of expectations . ... After the Suns made Devin Booker the 13th pick in the 2015 draft, subsequent firstround picks included Oubre,

Terry Rozier, Bobby Portis, Kevon Looney and

Cameron Payne. Lots of talent, but nothing close to Booker’s class . ... Three years later, with Luka Doncic and

Trae Young available, the Suns chose center Deandre Ayton as the No. 1 overall pick. That hasn’t worked out too badly, either.