MILWAUKEE — Myles Turner says coming so close to a championship last year made him that much hungrier to win it all.
In that regard, Turner made an interesting decision when he left the Indiana Pacers in free agency to sign a four-year, $108.9 million contract with the Milwaukee Bucks. His former team beat his new team in the first round of the playoffs each of the last two seasons.
His change of address isn’t changing his expectations.
“There’s so many years you felt like that was such a long shot, to get there,” the 6-foot-11 center said. “Now that I’ve actually experienced it and know what it’s like to be in that room, be so close, it’s something that drives me more now.”
Turner cites the Bucks’ championship background from winning the 2021 title. The only current Bucks players who were part of that championship team are two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bobby Portis and Thanasis Antetokounmpo.
“Being in an organization that’s done it before, I understand what their mentality is and what they want to get back to,” Turner said. “The fact we share similar mindsets is everything.”
The Bucks made a big bet on Turner as they attempted to get younger and more athletic. They’re trying to bounce back from three straight first-round postseason exits and show they’re still capable of contending.
Giannis Antetokounmpo believes Turner’s arrival should help in that regard.
“I am very, very excited that he’s on the team,” Antetokounmpo said. “He’s one of the bigs that I feel like, we could fit so well together. I think he gives our team so much depth. He’s one of the best bigs in the league. He can shoot. He can take you off the dribble. Great defender. I feel he’s an unbelievable guy in the locker room, very high-character guy. I’m very, very excited for him. I think that was an incredible and great move by the Bucks.”
It certainly was a bold move.
The Bucks created the cap room to sign Turner by waiving seven-time all-NBA guard Damian Lillard and agreeing to pay him just over $20 million over the next five seasons via the NBA’s stretch provision. Lillard isn’t expected to play this season after tearing his Achilles tendon in Milwaukee’s playoff loss to Indiana.
Bucks officials said they were willing to absorb the long-term financial hindrance that came from waiving Lillard and stretching his contract if it enabled them to land a player of Turner’s calibre.
“Myles has been someone who’s been at the top of our board for a long time, in terms of where he’s at in his career age-wise, style of play,” general manager Jon Horst said.
Turner was vacationing in Hawaii as everything came together. He would be changing teams for the first time after spending 10 seasons with the Pacers.
“I had a chance to reach out to everybody on the (Pacers) team through our group message and what not,” Turner said. “It’s kind of bitter, you know what I mean? You go through war with these guys. These guys are your brothers, and you don’t realize that’s the last bus ride you’re going to have with these guys. You don’t realize it’s the last meal you’re going to share with these guys, that stuff. Unfortunately, it is a business. That’s something I’ve learned over the years.”
Turner never made an All-Star team during his decade with the Pacers, but he developed into a reliably versatile big man who combines rim protection with 3-point shooting. That makes him an ideal replacement for Brook Lopez, who signed with the Los Angeles Clippers after spending seven seasons in Milwaukee.
The 29-year-old Turner is eight years younger than Lopez. He’s a two-time NBA blocked shots leader who has a career average of 14.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.
He had 15.6 points per game last season while making a career-high 156 3-pointers.
“Hopefully we can get him even more 3’s this year,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “I felt one of the things that Myles is really going into is he punishes switches. If you switch a guard on him, he’s going to go and put his head under the basket and punish you for it. I think that’s something we want to use.”
Rivers also noted that the Pacers seemed to have positioned on the elbow in a passing role more often than before last season. Rivers expects to use him that way as well.
“I think there are parts of my game I’ll be able to embrace more now, that I haven’t been able to embrace in the past,” Turner said. “I think I might be asked to do more now than I’ve done in the past.”
The Bucks will need Turner to produce at that level if they’re going to get back to competing for titles.
“At the end of the day, Myles really, really wants to win,” Horst said. “He was right there on the verge of doing it. He tasted that and wants it more than anything. He chose us for the opportunity to do that.”
