One of the most shocking moves of the NBA offseason has been Myles Turner joining the Milwaukee Bucks. No one expected the big man who had spent his entire NBA career with the Indiana Pacers to leave, especially as several reports suggested the Pacers were fine paying the luxury tax to give Turner a new contract.
However, things changed after Tyrese Haliburton tore his Achilles in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, and Indiana’s front office suddenly became weary of giving Turner a significant raise given this team was likely not going to be back in this same position next year.
But none of that was known until news broke that Turner was signing a deal with the Bucks, which led to the other shocking decision made by Milwaukee to waive and stretch Damian Lillard’s contract to make room for the Turner signing. In one swoop the Pacers lost someone who had been a franchise pillar for a decade, and even worse lost him to a division rival, one that Indiana has faced in each of the last two postseasons.
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But Turner is ready to turn the page, and during his introductory press conference said he chose the Bucks because he saw it as a chance to be competitive next season. That could be seen as a subtle jab to the Pacers, but he had more of a direct hit to the franchise with comments he made while on the broadcast of a summer league game. Turner was asked what his expectations were for when he plays his first game back in Indiana, and he gave a pretty eyebrow-raising answer.
“I don’t know what to expect, I really don’t,” Turner said. “I think there’s going to be half and half, even my time there, there were a lot of people that wanted me off the team. Now they got what they wanted and now they’re complaining still.”
To Turner’s point, he had been the subject of trade rumors for quite some time while playing for the Pacers, so certainly it could feel like the team was never fully committed to you when you’re always on the trading block. Even in 2023, when Turner signed a two-year $60 million extension in January, many people were shocked as he was projected to be a top trade candidate in the summer of 2023. The emergence of Haliburton changed that, so the Pacers decided to keep him.
Instead of always being mentioned in trade talks, Turner decided to take matters into his own hands and decide where he wanted to play, and he chose the Bucks over the Pacers despite reaching the NBA Finals with them. Certainly those comments about people complaining won’t go over well with some Pacers fans, and we’ll get to see how they feel about it when Turner faces Indiana at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the first time in his career next season.
