The Milwaukee Bucks stunned the NBA community on Tuesday when they opted to waive-and-stretch the remaining two years and $113 million on nine-time All-Star point guard Damian Lillard’s contract to carve out room for 3-and-D center Myles Turner.
Milwaukee inked the former 10-year Indiana Pacer to a lucrative four-year, $107 million deal.
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So why did the Pacers, on the heels of a close NBA Finals clash with the Oklahoma City Thunder, decide to let their starting five man walk?
A Pacers source has now shed some light on Indiana’s thinking, per The Athletic’s Eric Nehm, Sam Amick and Joe Vardon.
With Indiana having pushed the mighty Thunder to a seven-game Finals slugfest, the team had appeared open to finally paying the league’s punitive luxury tax, something it would have likely had to do to retain its core.
After two-time All-NBA point guard Tyrese Haliburton tore his Achilles tendon, essentially requiring a redshirt year in 2025-26, it appears the Pacers changed their minds.
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The Indiana source informed The Athletic that the team’s best offer to Turner got as high as $23 million. He’ll be making $26.8 million annually on Milwaukee. The Pacers also were a bit turned off by Turner’s lackluster showings in the Eastern Conference Finals against the New York Knicks and in the Finals.
In those two series, the 6-foot-11 Texas product averaged a middling 11.7 points on .459/.260/.740 shooting splits, 3.8 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 1.5 assists, and occasionally found himself getting subbed out for backup Obi Toppin late.
Per the source, Turner’s decision to ditch Indiana for Milwaukee wasn’t a massive surprise.
“It’s not really all that stunning when you think about it,” the source said. “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.”