When the NBA's salary cap increased in the summer of 2016 with the new CBA rules, many players who entered free agency at that time benefited hugely from the spike.

One of those players was Evan Turner, who was surprisingly given a four-year, $70 million contract by the Portland Trail Blazers.

The franchise was widely criticised for offering such a huge deal to a player who wasn't an All-Star.

Two years on from signing that deal, Turner is still hearing critics talking about his deal and he's starting to get fed up with it.

“First off, let me say one thing: Everything I have done, I have earned,” Turner told NBC Sports Northwest’s Jason Quick. “My contract — that’s my bread, and I earned my bread. So, kiss my a--. Dead serious. Write that. I earned that (expletive) money.”

These strong comments come just weeks after the 29-year-old was heckled by a fan in Portland after a two-point outing against the Sacramento Kings.

“Hey Evan! I see you got your typical two! Your typical two!’’’ Turner said, recreating the scene.

In the summer when he hit free agency, Turner was coming off arguably his best campaign in the league.

He averaged 10.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 28 minutes off the bench for a rebuilding Boston Celtics team that surprisingly won 48 games during the regular season.

C's head coach Brad Stevens got the best out of him and utilised his playmaking abilities to perfection with the second unit.

At the time, he was making just $3.4 million and it was clear that he would earn a bigger deal in the offseason.

But nobody could foresee that he'd land a contract that would net him $17.5m annually. That's what the Blazers thought he was worth, however, and he wasn't going to be foolish enough to turn it down.

The shooting guard hasn't had the same opportunities to make plays and use his best skills as he's playing with two ball-dominant, score-first teammates in Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum.

So he has tried to contribute when he can and he's once again part of one of the surprise packages in the league with the Trail Blazers in third place in the west.

He's averaging just 8.8 points, 2.2 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game but he's been impactful in other ways that don't always appear on the box score.

Portland's most productive line up features the eight-year man and although it's not enough to justify his big salary, it's enough for his team and that's the most important thing.

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