As the details of the Milwaukee Bucks’ decision to waive Damian Lillard and stretch the remaining $113 million of his salary over the next five years to create the cap space needed to sign Myles Turner away from the Indiana Pacers were reported, several words came to mind before settling on one that felt most appropriate: Stunning, bold, daring, reckless… desperate.
Turner’s move to Milwaukee is more surprising than impactful. It hurts the Pacers more than it helps the Bucks. Turner is a good player, but he’s not the needle-mover the Bucks need to return to title contention.
It’s Milwaukee’s hail mary, but they are down 20 with 10 seconds to go. Technically, it gets them closer, but there isn’t much else they can do.
Myles Turner is good, but flawed
But let’s start with Indiana. In losing Turner, they lose a fan favorite and a key part of the offense. This is genuinely a bummer. In one month, the Pacers have lost both Tyrese Haliburton and Turner for next season.
Turner played a major role in Indiana’s run to the 2025 Finals. He is the rare 7-footer who can credibly shoot 3s and block shots, shooting 39.6 percent from deep and averaging 2 blocks per game last season. He spaced the floor for Pascal Siakam and danced with Haliburton in their two-man game. The chemistry between Turner and his teammates will be hard to reproduce.
But Turner had his flaws. While he was an excellent shooter from distance, he didn’t convert at a high rate closer to the basket. He made just 42.5 percent of his shots from 3-10 feet last season, according to Basketball Reference, and his conversion rate at the rim hit its lowest mark since 2021. In the Finals, he missed 22 of his 28 attempts from 3-point range. When his outside shot wasn’t falling, he failed to make much of an impact on offense. He also wasn’t a dominant rebounder, never averaging more than 7.5 rebounds per game for a season.
In the end, the Pacers decided it wasn’t worth going into the luxury tax to pay Turner for a season they would be without Haliburton. They offered him a contract that fell short of the four-year, $107 million deal he signed with Milwaukee.
Now the Pacers are about $20 million below the luxury tax and can use the full, $14 million mid-level exception on a free agent or acquire a center in a trade.
When Haliburton first came to Indiana, he had been used to playing with pick-and-roll threats throughout his career, not pick-and-pop spacers like Turner.
"When I first came in the league, my big was Richaun Holmes," Haliburton said in a news conference during the NBA Finals. "I love Rich. Rich is not a pop guy, but he's a roller. Has a really good floater, push shot. I always thought in my career I was going to be best with a guy who plays above the rim and a pick-and-roll threat."
Maybe the Pacers can find that kind of target for Haliburton. They figure to bring the athletic Isaiah Jackson (a restricted free agent) back next season. Other free agent options include Precious Achiuwa, DeAndre Ayton, Mo Wagner and Jaxson Hayes.
As inconvenient as this may be, the Pacers were prepared to lose Turner, as evidenced by their low-ball offer. Now they have a gap year to figure out what’s next at the center position.
Are the Bucks better?
As for the Bucks, they moved quickly after losing Brook Lopez to the LA Clippers. Turner replaces a lot of what Lopez provided the Bucks for seven seasons. He can space the floor for Giannis Antetokounmpo and provide a defensive backbone that allows Antetokounmpo to wreak havoc as a helpside defender.
Turner is better and younger than Lopez at this stage, so it’s a forward-looking swap. But it comes at the expense of eating $22.6 million in Lillard’s dead cap hit in each of the next five seasons. While the Bucks got marginally better at the center position, they got worse as a team. They went from Lillard, Lopez and Antetokounmpo to Turner and Antetokounmpo. Yes, Lillard was going to miss this upcoming season either way, but Milwaukee’s pitch was to sell Antetokounmpo on a gap year while Lillard recovered from an Achilles injury. But what, exactly, is on the other side of the gap now?
Milwaukee’s future is blurry. They don’t have a point guard or anyone who can run a high-level pick-and-roll with Antetokounmpo or Turner. There’s a lot of “Point Giannis” talk going around, but without a true point guard to set him up, Turner will be exposed as a limited offensive option.
Maybe the Bucks can turn Kyle Kuzma and draft picks into something helpful – they are pot committed. But I’m afraid that this move is stunning because of the extraordinary steps it took to pull it off, not because of the impact it will have on the Eastern Conference.
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NBA news roundup
- During “an off-site open basketball session,” Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. suffered a turf toe injury in his right foot that will require a procedure to repair, the team announced Tuesday. The team did not release a timeline for his return, but In Street Clothes’ Jeff Stotts noted these injuries typically take three months to come back from.
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander agreed to a four-year, $285 million super maximum contract extension with the Oklahoma City Thunder that keeps him under contract through the 2030-31 season and becomes the richest annual salary for a player in NBA history.
- The Knicks are closing in on Mike Brown as their next head coach, according to Marc Stein. The Knicks are considering James Borrego as a top assistant and are expected to retain Rick Brunson, Jalen Brunson’s father, on the staff.
Day 2 Free Agency moves
- Tre Mann agreed to a three-year, $24 million deal with the Charlotte Hornets.
- The Detroit Pistons are trading Simone Fontecchio to the Miami Heat to acquire Duncan Robinson in a sign-and-trade deal after Robinson agreed to a three-year, $48 million deal with the Pistons.
- The Denver Nuggets added Tim Hardaway Jr. on a one-year deal and traded Dario Saric to the Sacramento Kings for Jonas Valanciunas.
- Josh Minott agreed to a two-year, $5 million deal with the Boston Celtics.
- Jakob Poeltl has agreed on a four-year, $104 million contract extension with the Toronto Raptors.
- After waiving Lillard and signing Turner, the Bucks added center Jericho Sims to a two-year deal and traded Pat Connaughton and two of their own second-round picks (2031, 2032) to the Charlotte Hornets for Vasilije Micic.
- Dennis Schroder agreed to a three-year, $45 million deal with the Kings.
- Guerschon Yabusele agreed to a two-year, $12 million contract with the New York Knicks.