This may be by design, & I know is held-over from DotE, but for me limiting turrets to fixed locations feels tactically limiting. Would be interested in how the game would change if turrets had proximity limits to avoid unfair player choke points. Like, no two basic turrets could be placed within half-range of each other, or a slow-down turrets range overlap would create some inverse field where enemies go faster in the overlap? I can see that this may be difficult to implement, and that with randomized timed waves the turret setup may move too slowly, but I often felt that turret locations came with strong drawbacks to their placement.

The fact that locations have draw backs is what makes it strategic. You have to consider the pros and cons of each location. You can always position a hero to guard one location that doesn't have enough turrets. If you could place turrets anywhere you would just place enough turrets to cover each spawner and that would be that.