[20][21] Turner and McCamey finished third and sixth to Rose in the Illinois Mr. Basketball voting,[3] and the Chicago Tribune chose both of them as first team All-state selections.

[4][5][6] He received scholarship offers from five Big Ten Conference basketball programs, as well as Wake Forest, DePaul and Notre Dame.

[32][33][34] On February 26, Turner became the only Big Ten player selected by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) as a Top 15 finalist for the Oscar Robertson Trophy.

[40] On March 5, the National Association of Basketball Coaches honored Turner as a District 7 (Big Ten)[41] first-team selection along with four other sophomores.

[42] He was also chosen on March 10 by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association for its 2008–09 Men's Division I District V (OH, IN, IL, MI, MN, WI) Team, based on voting from its national membership.

[44] On March 15, he was selected to the 2009 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament team, despite Ohio State's loss in the final game to Purdue.

[45][46] Turner played for the 2009 Junior USA World University Championships team, along with conference foes Robbie Hummel of Purdue and Talor Battle of Penn State.

ESPN chose both Kalin Lucas and Turner to its 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season preseason second-team All-American list.

[52] Turner, nicknamed "The Villain", opened the season by recording the first triple double by a Big Ten player since January 13, 2001, and the second in school history (Dennis Hopson was the first) during the Coaches vs. Cancer classic against Alcorn State University.

[57] On December 5, 2009, in the fourth week of the season, he suffered transverse process fractures of the second and third lumbar vertebrae in his back, which was expected to cause him to be inactive for two months.

[59] This occurred two days after Ohio State fell out of the top 25 in the 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings on January 4 in his absence.

[75] Then the list was shortened to five finalists (Turner, Sherron Collins, John Wall, Wesley Johnson and Da'Sean Butler) who were flown out to Los Angeles for the announcement.

[77] In February, he was named a midseason Top 30 candidate for the Naismith College Player of the Year and was announced the recipient of the award in Indianapolis April 5, 2010.

[98] On October 27, 2010, in his debut (and also on his 22nd birthday) for the 76ers in their season opener at Wells Fargo Center, Turner recorded 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists, coming off the bench for 30 minutes to lead the team in scoring in a 97–87 loss to the Miami Heat.

[99] On November 7, 2010, Turner got his first NBA start and ended the game with a double-double, recording 14 points and 10 rebounds to go with his 3 assists, in a 106–96 win over the New York Knicks in place of the injured Andre Iguodala.

[100] On December 29, 2010, Turner scored a career-high 23 points in a 123–110 win against the Phoenix Suns, going 9–12 from the field and a perfect 4–4 from the free throw line.

They reached the 2011 NBA Playoffs as the seventh seed, and were matched up against the new-look Miami Heat led by LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

[104] Turner was praised for his aggressiveness in the series, handling Wade on the defensive side, and scoring 17 points and six rebounds on 50% shooting in the 76ers' win in Game 4.

[113] Turner started all 82 games during the 2012–13 NBA season and tallied 14 double-doubles,[116] while averaging a career high 15.3 points 6.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists.

[118] The 76ers did not sign Turner to an extension prior to the October 31, 2013, deadline, meaning that the 76ers had the right to make him a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

[119] On November 9, 2013, Turner established a new career high with 31 points, including the game-tying basket with 8.7 seconds remaining in the first overtime against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

[121][122] Turner sat out on December 28 due to knee soreness, but he returned to the lineup the following night against the Los Angeles Lakers with 32 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.

[126][127] On February 20, 2014, Turner and Lavoy Allen were traded to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Danny Granger and a second-round draft pick.

[139] He began the season as a reserve, but when Marcus Smart and Rajon Rondo endured concurrent injuries, Turner scored a team-high 19 points in a starting role in a win against the Chicago Bulls.

[146] On March 13, 2015, Turner scored 24 of his season-high 30 points in the second half, including 16 in the fourth quarter to help the Celtics rally past the Orlando Magic.

[152] On March 26, Turner posted a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double and blocked Devin Booker's potential game-tying shot with 3.9 seconds left against the Phoenix Suns.

[162] On February 8, he was ruled out for approximately five to six weeks after sustaining a fracture of the third metacarpal in his right hand the night before playing against the Dallas Mavericks.

[167] On April 1, 2019, Turner recorded his fourth career triple-double with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists off the bench in a 132–122 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

He was a perfect 5 of 5 from the floor, making his triple-double just the seventh in NBA history to happen on five or fewer field goal attempts.

[7] On August 23, 2010, CNBC reported that Turner had signed a multi-year endorsement contract with Chinese apparel maker Li Ning Company Limited.