Antetokounmpo\u2019s future crossed Turner\u2019s this week. The Bucks, desperate to keep up with the powers in the Eastern Conference as Antetokounmpo considers his future amid significant cap challenges, took an unprecedented step to land Turner. Milwaukee took on serious financial baggage to get him.<\/p>\n
Needing to clear enough room to sign Turner, the Bucks waived and stretched Damian Lillard\u2019s contract, taking the two-year, $113 million extension for the 34-year-old star guard that was set to begin next season and spreading it over five years via the NBA\u2019s stretch provision. It was the largest single use of the stretch provision in league history.<\/p>\n
If you add the nearly $27 million or so per year that the Bucks will pay the 29-year-old Turner to the yearly outlay they\u2019ll now shoulder in dead money for Lillard, who\u2019ll likely miss most of next season after suffering his own devastating Achilles tear in the playoffs against, ironically, the Pacers, Milwaukee will pay out nearly $50 million per season through 2028-29 for one position: Turner\u2019s.<\/p>\n
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Pacers ownership was less willing to pay tax for a team that was less likely to contend next season without Tyrese Haliburton. (Maddie Meyer\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no sugarcoating how devastating it is for Indiana to lose Turner, the team\u2019s longest-tenured player and the guy who wore the struggles and the triumphs of this past season on his sleeve. During the finals, Turner said he was so stressed that his hair was falling out. He\u2019s been open about the mental health issues<\/a> he\u2019s gone through during his decade with the Pacers,<\/a> and how coming out at the other end as a key member of a finals team was beyond cathartic. Carlisle, Turner said, was the first coach he\u2019s had in Indiana who believed in him.<\/p>\n The feeling was mutual.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s any secret that the franchise, at this particular moment, that (re-signing Turner) is the No. 1 priority,\u201d Carlisle said on his weekly radio show<\/a> in Indianapolis after the finals.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know anything about money or numbers or years, or any of that kind of stuff, but Myles is a very important part of what we\u2019ve done here, what we\u2019ve been doing. He\u2019s a very important part of the history of the franchise, certainly over the last decade. I know that will be a big topic. I\u2019m not privy to every little conversation going on there, but Myles is a very important part of what we\u2019re doing. That will be a big thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Once Haliburton went down, however, Indy became vulnerable.<\/p>\n \u201cIt changed everything,\u201d one league source said Tuesday.<\/p>\n Until that moment, ownership was willing to pay luxury tax for the first time in 20 years. Since acquiring Haliburton from the Sacramento Kings in 2022, the Pacers meticulously built around him, bringing in players who were perfect fits for his growing playmaking abilities. They had opened up a two- to three-year window<\/a>, having signed all of their current key players through the 2026-27 season, and all but wing Aaron Nesmith through 2027-28. However, it was all centered on Haliburton and his incredible offensive gifts. He makes everything go for the Pacers. He\u2019s the reason they can play at such a withering pace for 48 minutes, wearing out opponents who can\u2019t stay the course.<\/p>\n No one was better at getting Turner open looks on the move, where he\u2019s more effective, rather than trying to post up. Turner struggled mightily without Haliburton on the floor.<\/p>\n A league source said the Pacers\u2019 offer to Turner topped out at around $23 million per year, short of what he got from Milwaukee. Turner essentially wanted what he got from the Bucks, something closer to $27 million a year.<\/p>\n With the compounding luxury tax, had Indiana given Turner what he wanted, it would have paid around $11 million in taxes on top of his salary. In addition, by being a taxpayer, the Pacers would have lost the refund money that teams staying out of the tax receive annually from taxpaying teams, which is usually between $5 and $10 million per year.<\/p>\n Pacers ownership was less willing to pay tax for a team that was less likely to contend next season without Haliburton. It was still willing to pay it \u2014 to a point. The most generous prediction, though, even within the building, is that Indy could be a middle-of-the-pack team next year. Realistically, just as with Boston and other teams that lost their star player, the more likely result is that Indiana takes a step back.<\/p>\n Right now, Indiana only has Tony Bradley signed to play center next season, having picked up his $2.94 million club option for next season late last week. The Pacers could try to pry a center loose from elsewhere with a trade. Forward Bennedict Mathurin, a restricted free agent next summer, could at least get such discussions rolling.<\/p>\n Ironically, though, there\u2019s another potential option, one that the Pacers tried just a few years ago.<\/p>\n In the summer of 2022, the Pacers gave a four-year, $133 million offer sheet to Deandre Ayton, who was a restricted free agent with the Phoenix Suns at the time. It was the biggest offer sheet in NBA history. Ayton had worn out his welcome in Phoenix, a year after being a vital part of the Suns\u2019 finals run, where they lost to \u2026 Milwaukee \u2026 a year before. However, Ayton\u2019s play dropped badly during the \u201922 playoffs, to the point where then-coach Monty Williams benched him after just 17 minutes of Phoenix\u2019s Game 7 conference semifinal blowout loss to the Mavericks.<\/p>\n Despite the tension between the two, the Suns matched the offer sheet.<\/p>\n Now, after losing Turner, the Pacers can use their full non-taxpayer midlevel exception of $14.1 million to sign a center, and Ayton, now 26, is available as an unrestricted free agent after the Portland Trail Blazers bought his contract out over the weekend. The Blazers first acquired him in a three-team trade with the Suns in 2023, and the third team in the deal was \u2026 Milwaukee.<\/p>\n The Stein Line\u2019s Jake Fischer reported Monday that Ayton gave up around $10 million of his $35.6 million salary as part of this week\u2019s buyout, but Ayton could make up that money if he gets the non-taxpayer midlevel from someone. Someone like the Pacers, for example.<\/p>\n The Los Angeles Lakers also have the $14 million MLE, and after Brook Lopez went to the Clippers and Clint Capela back to the Houston Rockets, Ayton is suddenly front and, excuse the pun, center. While his flaws and maturity were major reasons <\/a>the Blazers gave up on him,<\/a> he\u2019d still be the perfect rim-running, lob threat type of center that L.A. desperately wants to pair with Luka Don\u010di\u0107.<\/p>\n A source close to Ayton said Tuesday that the Pacers would be \u201cconsidered\u201d as a potential landing spot.<\/p>\n Ayton would be a challenge for the Pacers. He would have to demonstrate his ability to improve off the court and that he could again earn starter\u2019s minutes on a team that still has high aspirations. Like Williams, Carlisle doesn\u2019t suffer fools at this stage of his career. Neither do Pascal Siakam, Andrew Nembhard, Nesmith or T.J. McConnell.<\/p>\n Indiana is a professional basketball organization from top to bottom. The Pacers will struggle mightily without Haliburton next season. They almost certainly won\u2019t be the East\u2019s finals rep in 2026. They won\u2019t roll over, though.<\/p>\n They\u2019ll still be looking for someone serious in the middle. They\u2019ll need the help, and particularly, now, against \u2026 Milwaukee.<\/p>\n (The Athletic\u2019s John Hollinger contributed to this story.)<\/p>\n (Top photo of Myles Turner and Tyrese Haliburton: Ron Hoskins\/NBAE via Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you gave the Indiana Pacers a dose of truth serum this morning, I think they\u2019d tell you…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":32800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[1267,1260,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-32799","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-indiana-pacers","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114784135327614470","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}