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In a shocking turn of events, the Milwaukee Bucks have stolen Myles Turner from the Indiana Pacers in free agency. While the assumption around the league was that Turner would return to the Pacers following the team's run to the 2025 NBA Finals, the veteran center now joins Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks on a 4-year, $107 million contract, according to Shams Charania of ESPN.
This contract with Milwaukee contains a fourth-year player option and a 15 percent trade kicker that Turner will benefit from if the Bucks were to ever deal him.
Turner, 29, was the longest tenured member of the Pacers after being drafted 11th overall in the 2015 NBA Draft. In his 10 seasons with the team, he averaged 14.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 36.2 percent from 3-point range.
He played a pivotal role in the Pacers reaching the 2025 NBA Finals this season and has widely been known to be the team's leading voice in the locker room. Turner, a fan favorite in Indianapolis, struggled in the seven games against the Oklahoma City Thunder, averaging just 10.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per game while shooting 21.4 percent from 3-point range.
It was widely known that Turner was feeling under the weather and missed some practices throughout this Finals series.
While the league-wide assumption was that Turner would return to the Pacers, especially after back-to-back appearances in the Eastern Conference Finals and a trip to the NBA Finals this past year, that is not the case.
Indiana is now dealing with the fallout from All-Star Tyrese Haliburton suffering an Achilles injury and wasn't willing to meet Turner's price tag in free agency. Turner, who wanted to be paid like one of the better centers in the league, was never offered more than $20 million per year by the team, league sources told ClutchPoints.
The Pacers had been in negotiations with Turner's representation leading up to free agency, but talks never reached a point where the long-time Indiana favorite was comfortable staying. While Turner was hoping for a lucrative contract to remain with the team, Indiana never moved from their offer that would have paid Turner an average of $20 million per season, sources said.
As a result, he leaves the organization after 10 seasons and embarks on a new chapter with the Bucks, who are sorting through their own issues this offseason.
Milwaukee has made it clear that they are going to do everything they can to please Antetokounmpo and convince him not to seek opportunities elsewhere. That is why the team went all-out for Turner in free agency and why they also created some flexibility by waiving superstar point guard Damian Lillard, who will spend a vast majority of, if not all, the 2025-26 season recovering from a torn Achilles.
In addition to adding Turner as an unrestricted agent, the Bucks also brought back Bobby Portis, Gary Trent Jr., Taurean Prince, and Kevin Porter Jr. Turner replaces Brook Lopez, who ultimately decided to leave Milwaukee after seven years and join the Los Angeles Clippers.
This offseason for the Bucks is all about proving to Giannis that this organization has what it takes to get back to championship glory. It is yet to be seen if the addition of Turner and dumping Lillard will be enough to convince Antetokounmpo of this.
