Do the Indiana Pacers have a dirty side? According to Myles Turner, the Indiana Pacers had led him to believe that he was “cared for” when he went to free agency last summer. However, the Pacers didn’t make the offer he expected. In an appearance on teammate Thanasis Antetokounmpo’s podcast, Turner said he had a “vision for myself with Indiana, the organization,” but found out that the franchise was looking at the situation differently.Turner ended up signing a four-year, $108.9 million contract with the Bucks, who used the stretch provision on injured star Damian Lillard to clear the cap space to make it happen. Turner compared the experience of himself and his former teammates in “Thanalysis.” After the Pacers reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2024 they resigned Pascal Siakam (4 years, $189m), Obi toppin (4 years, $58m) and T.J. McConnell (4 years, $44.8m) as well as signed Aaron Nesmith (two years for $40.4m) to a contract renewal.Turner said, “We won, we had a good run. We took care of everyone, and they all got paid.” Then, you move on to the following year. We go beyond what we did. We are going to the finals. Everyone told me to keep my head down. Then you will get what you deserve if only you keep your head and work. You hear rumors about Indiana going into luxury tax for first time, etc.”In fact, ESPN’s Shamscharania reported in July that the Pacers would be willing to pay the luxury tax in order to sign Turner. This was the first time the Pacers had done so in 20 years. Turner suggested that their calculations changed when Tyrese Haliborton, their franchise player tore his Achilles during Game 7 of NBA finals.
“Everyone gassed me all year and said, ‘You will be taken care off, you will be taken care of. ‘ After the tragic incident with Tyrese in the Finals, I guess that the front-office and ownership basically changed their mind. They said things like: “Yeah we told you everything” or “Yeah you know you helped us reach the Finals as well as the Eastern Conference Finals but we needed to pivot.” That was the general sentiment. We just had very different opinions about the future.Turner said that he was “elated,” when Bucks General Manager Jon Horst contacted him. He had been disappointed with what he heard from Indiana.[Milwaukee] He said that at the time, an organization saw my potential and valued me for where I was in my career. “And I took a very friendly rookie extension in Indiana and an even friendlier extension after that. “I was 29, I had just come off some of the best years I ever spent in the league, and I thought, this is my time to increase my wealth for my family.” It was frustrating when our visions did not align. “I had to remove the emotion and see it as a business.”
Turner was selected No.11 by the Pacers. The Pacers drafted Turner No. In 2015, he was at the final season of Frank Vogel, Paul George’s trading request, Victor Oladipo making All-NBA, and T.J. Warren scoring a lot in the bubble. He was present for the tumultuous Nate Bjorkgren era, the Haliburton miracle trade, and the first Finals appearance of the franchise since its days in the ABA. Turner’s 10 years at the team were marked by trade rumors, but the team never did end up trading him. Players’ Tribune printed a love note from Turner in May. Jake Fischer, of The Stein Line, said that Turner wanted to stay but Indiana wouldn’t give him a longer-term contract or one worth more than $ 22 million per year. The Pacers were surprised. Kevin Pritchard stated in July that the team was “fully prepared” to dig deep into tax. Pritchard told reporters that he had been negotiating with Turner’s representative, Austin Brown, in good faith and felt like they were moving towards a settlement until the Bucks got involved. Pritchard was “shocked,” he said, when he learned of Turner’s departure via social media. He would have been willing to sign-and trade, but he “didn’t get that far, unfortunately.”In an August interview with 107.5 The Fan, Indiana coach Rick Carlisle stated that he believed the Bucks told Turner their offer was conditional on his keeping quiet and not using it to negotiate a better Pacers deal.
“I believe what happened is that they spoke to Myles’ or Myles and His agent and said, Look, we have this deal. This is a certain number, which you are presumably trying to reach. Carlisle explained, “We have to be sure that if we give you this, you will take it and not shop it. This is a common tactic in negotiation. So, it’s pretty clear that they accepted the offer. Their right to do so.It’s not clear how much Indiana was willing to pay Turner if they knew Milwaukee was also in the running. Turner’s performance in the postseason may also have affected the offer. However, The Athletic reports that this was the case. Turner only shot 31.8% of his 3-pointers in the finals of the conference against the New York Knicks. He also shot 21.4% from the same distance in the Finals. City Thunder. Turner was sick for some of those games against OKC where he missed wide-open 3-pointers. Indiana did play Toppin more often than Turner in some clutch situations during May and early June. Turner has been a declining defender over the past few years. For basketball reasons, a contract as long as that which Turner got from Bucks, where he would make $29.1 in 2028-29 if he exercises his player’s option, may have not appealed.
Turner and Bucks will be in Indiana on Monday. Turner will be playing at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in a rival capacity for the very first time. The event will undoubtedly be emotional, despite – and in many ways because of – the bizarre way that his tenure ended. A nice, long video will be made in his honor.
2025-10-31 18:09:56
