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Myles Turner was widely expected to return to the Indiana Pacers in free agency, even with the looming luxury tax concerns after Tyrese Haliburton suffered an Achilles tear in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Instead, the Pacers refused to pay up, opening the door for the Milwaukee Bucks and a four-year, $107 million contract agreement.
Initial reports suggested Indiana's offer to Turner didn't top $20 million per season. The Stein Line's Jake Fischer followed up by saying the offer wasn't higher than $22 million annually, while The Athletic's report from Eric Nehm, Sam Amick and Joe Vardon puts the offer between $20-23 million per year. Regardless, it was less than what the center ultimately got from Milwaukee.
Why Pacers let Myles Turner walk to Bucks
The Pacers are being skewered for cheaping out on Myles Turner after falling just one win short of an NBA title. Even though the Haliburton injury makes for unique circumstances, letting Turner walk over money still stings for many fans. Indiana is clearly using the Haliburton absence as the prime defense of this move.
Via The Athletic: “However, Indiana was already facing the likelihood next season of playing without Haliburton, who tore his Achilles about seven minutes into Game 7 of the finals, and decided it didn’t want to “overpay” for Turner now, a team source said. The Pacers had signaled a willingness to pay the luxury tax as the offseason neared, but changed that stance in the wake of Haliburton’s injury.”
The Athletic also got a Pacers source to explain it shouldn't have been surprising that Turner went elsewhere.
“It’s not really all that stunning when you think about it,” said the Pacers source, who added that the team doesn’t plan to tank next year with Haliburton sidelined. “It’s a bigger deal because it’s Milwaukee — if Myles had gone to Denver or the Clippers, it would be (perceived) totally different as far as (the Pacers) are concerned.”
This outlook feels a bit naive. While Turner going to the Bucks hurts more due to the rivalry between the two teams, losing Turner due to a refusal to pay the tax once again leaves a bad taste in the mouth no matter what. It's not like Turner is leaving for over $30 million per season on a truly exorbitant contract. $27 million a year is a reasonable deal for a 29-year-old who just played a key role in an NBA Finals run after years of trade rumors, even if he struggled in said Finals.
Haliburton will be back in 2026-27, and now the Pacers will need to find a new long-term starting center to pair with him. Indiana could very well recover from Myles Turner's departure, but it's still a tough pill to swallow right now.
