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Fresh off an appearance in the 2025 NBA Finals, the world was the Indiana Pacers' oyster. Alas, the fairytale did not last very long for the Pacers. They soon had to grapple with the reality that Tyrese Haliburton was going to be out for the entirety of the 2025-26 season and as a result, the upcoming season will end up being more of a gap year.
But similar to the Boston Celtics, the Pacers are hoping to pick up where they left off once Haliburton returns from injury. Instead, within a span of a little over a week, the Pacers have seen their fortunes take a 180-degree turn for the worse, with their latest mistake in free agency looking likely to cost them in the long run.
Here is the Pacers' biggest mistake thus far in the early goings of the NBA's free agency period in 2025.
Pacers let Myles Turner walk… and to a rival at that
For 10 long seasons, Myles Turner was a valuable member of the Pacers franchise. A homegrown player, Turner has been a true professional, performing his role to the best of his ability even though he saw his role fluctuate and his name stay on the trade block for nearly his entire career.
But in an instant, Turner was no longer a Pacer. And it's difficult to blame Turner for deciding to go for a big payday, signing a four-year, $107 million contract with the Milwaukee Bucks to be their new starting center. The Bucks went above and beyond in showing Turner how enamored of him they were, as they even parted ways with Damian Lillard via a stretch-and-waive just to bring in the 29-year-old center.
According to the rumor mill, the Pacers never offered Turner a contract worth more than $22 million per year. For reference, the contract Turner signed with the Bucks is worth nearly $27 million per annum. Moreover, the Pacers did not want to offer Turner more than three years on a new deal even though the 29-year-old prioritized getting a deal done with the reigning Eastern Conference champion.
The Pacers have long operated as a small-market team, refusing to dive deep into the tax even if it means parting ways with a beloved member of the roster. But this decision to let go of Turner, and to the Bucks of all teams (a team they've built some bad blood towards after matching up against each other in the first round of the playoffs in two consecutive years), won't be any less painful for the Pacers fanbase to deal with.
Something has to be said for the Pacers' conviction not to bend over their own rules of operation for anyone, instead choosing to move on and take things in stride even if it meant saying goodbye to a beloved, decade-long member of the team. But what Turner does for the team is not so easily replaceable, even if he did end up struggling in the 2025 NBA Finals.
Turner is a rare stretch center who isn't a defensive liability. Sure, his agility and mobility on the perimeter is on the decline, but he can still protect the rim with the best of them. He did bother Chet Holmgren quite often during their matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
It was his offensive production that fell off a cliff during that series. He averaged just 10.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per game while shooting 37.7 percent from the field and 21.4 percent from deep. If he was more on point offensively, then the Pacers may have had enough to get over the hump.
But the Pacers would not have reached the NBA Finals in the first place if they didn't have Turner to be a matchup problem for the Eastern Conference teams they defeated on their way to the big dance.
He was especially problematic to deal with against the Cleveland Cavaliers; during their upset over the East's one-seed, Turner averaged 16.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game on 51/56/78 shooting splits. Yes, that was not a typo: he shot over 56 percent from three (he went 9-16 in five games) against the Cavs.
Even against the New York Knicks, he was quite a valuable piece on offense, making over 56 percent of his shots from the field and taking advantage of New York's soft interior defense whenever Mitchell Robinson was off the court.
Some may knock Turner's lack of efficiency when it mattered the most and his lack of rebounding prowess which forced head coach Rick Carlisle to deploy Tony Bradley (or Thomas Bryant) whenever the opposing team had a bruising offensive rebounding big man on the floor. But Turner never lacked in effort, and he seemed to come up huge for the Pacers over and over again, and after such a magical playoff run, the 29-year-old's biggest wish was to get the opportunity to run it back — which he won't be getting now that he's with the Bucks.
There may be not much room for sentiment when it comes to building a contending team. But Turner, after surviving plenty of Pacers roster changes, finally was getting a taste of the playoff success that was ever so elusive during the greater part of his stint with the franchise. They looked poised to sustain that contending level of theirs (provided Haliburton recovers swiftly from injury) — with Turner playing a huge part in the unflappable, unfazed, breakneck style of play that the Pacers took pride in.
However, his exit from the franchise ended up being swift and sudden, coming out of nowhere as the Pacers decided to be frugal for the nth time. Only time will tell if this decision proves to be the best in the long run. But one thing's for sure, not only does Turner's departure hurt for a fanbase that has grown to love the person and player the 29-year-old has become in his decade-long stay with the team, it will also hurt a Pacers team that has gotten so used to receiving floor-spacing and rim protection from its longtime five man.
Indiana might be going from Turner to… Deandre Ayton
It was in 2022 when the Pacers looked so ready to finally move on from Turner. They even signed Deandre Ayton to a four-year, $133 million offer sheet to try and pry him away from the Phoenix Suns in restricted free agency. The Suns did end up matching that offer, forcing the Pacers to stick with Turner, and that proved to be the best possible choice as Turner continued to be productive, playing a huge role in their run to the NBA Finals in 2025.
But now that Turner's gone and there's no going back, the Pacers will now have to find a way to address the void at the center position that his departure has created. And as fate would have it, Ayton will be entering free agency after agreeing on a buyout with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Ayton may be more physically gifted than Turner, and he's a better rebounder, but that's about the only thing he does better than the former Pacers center. Turner was such a great locker-room presence for the Pacers, someone who was vocal in rallying the team together to fight for something greater than themselves. On the contrary, Ayton is reportedly a locker-room problem, someone who's always late, someone who's sulking whenever he doesn't get his way, and someone whose effort level comes and goes.
Perhaps Carlisle can mold Ayton and unlock the best version of the 25-year-old center. But the Pacers aren't even guaranteed to land the talented but problematic former first overall pick, as they will have to contend with the Los Angeles Lakers for his signature.
The Pacers will now have to contend with so much uncertainty, and it's all because they wouldn't commit an extra $4 million or so per annum and an extra year to keep Turner and perhaps set him on course to being a lifelong member of the franchise.
