Indiana Pacers President Kevin Pritchard claims ownership was willing to go deep into the tax to retain Myles Turner.
Turner officially departed the Pacers in free agency to join the division rival Milwaukee Bucks. The deal is reportedly worth $107 million over four years, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
“Herb Simon and Steven Rales and the Simon family were fully prepared to go deep into the tax to keep him,” Pritchard said. “We really wanted to do that. We were negotiating in good faith but what happens in this league is, sometimes you’re negotiating but because a guy is unrestricted, he has the right to say — ‘That’s the offer I want and I’m gonna take it and that’s best for my family.’ ”
From what’s been reported, Indiana’s offer didn’t exceed $23 million per year. It’s worth noting the Pacers haven’t paid the luxury tax in two decades.
Turner was an integral member of the Pacers for 10 years as their starting center. He was extremely impactful in defeating the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round. Though his performance declined thereafter, he still had several big moments in helping the Pacers to their first NBA Finals appearance since 2000.
Most of all, Turner shared tremendous chemistry with Tyrese Haliburton in the pick-and-roll. That was going to be missed regardless of Turner’s free agency decision after Haliburton ruptured his Achilles during Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Indiana now seems in no man’s land for the 2025-26 season without both Haliburton and Turner.
Pacers Blindsided By Bucks’ Offer To Turner?
Based on Pritchard’s comments, it appears as though the Pacers simply did not see the Bucks’ offer coming.
“It was a little surprising how Milwaukee created that,” Pritchard admitted. “We always say in our conference room there’s cap teams that have cap space and there’s shadow teams that have cap space. You can go get it but it becomes very challenging by buying out or making trades and hat tip to Milwaukee to do that.
“I think the most important thing is we were deep in conversations with Myles and then we saw that he’d accepted an offer with Milwaukee. Again, that’s part of this business that’s challenging.”
The biggest threat heading into free agency to sign Turner away was the Brooklyn Nets. Indiana probably felt a strong financial offer — coupled with owning a clearer outlook than Brooklyn — would be enough. Not to mention, the Pacers were the only franchise Turner had known in the NBA.
Milwaukee shockingly waived and stretched Damian Lillard, thus creating the necessary cap room to tempt Turner. The 29-year-old succumbed and here we are.
Despite the boldness, it remains to be seen if the Bucks actually got better. The roster is largely the same, except with Turner replacing Brook Lopez at center.
Indiana, meanwhile, responded by adding center Jay Huff to the roster. That highly touted depth will need to take a big step next season as the Pacers prepare for a full year without Haliburton.
