Myles Turner gets his revenge on Pacers after years of dangling in trade rumors

The Indiana Pacers are reaping what they sowed. Myles Turner is signing a four-year, $107 million contract with the Milwaukee Bucks. It includes a player option in the final season and a 15 percent trade kicker, per ESPN's Shams Charania.

This comes out of nowhere, as we didn't even know the Bucks would have cap space. But in an even more shocking twist, Milwaukee waived and stretched the remaining $113 million on Damian Lillard's contract after his heartbreaking Achilles injury in the playoffs. Now Lillard ventures to find a new team while Turner replaces Brook Lopez as Giannis Antetokounmpo's frontcourt running mate in Milwaukee.

What a move for the Bucks, who are doing everything in their power to convince Giannis to stick around. As for the Pacers, well, this is depressing. Turner has spent his entire career to date in Indiana, and he wanted to finish it there, but ownership's unwillingness to pay the tax — especially after Haliburton's Finals injury — put a nail in the coffin. Now he's with a division rival, working in direct opposition to Indiana's postseason goals for the next four years.

Pacers get taste of their own medicine as Myles Turner spurns them for Bucks

Turner has been a focal point of Pacers trade rumors for years now. It became especially prominent ahead of the trade deadline a few months ago, precisely because of what just transpired. Turner was an expiring contract, and the Pacers didn't want to delve into the luxury tax to keep him.

An unexpected run to the Finals appeared to assuage ownership's money concerns and convince them to keep everyone together — right up until Haliburton's calf shuddered in that fateful Game 7, changing the course of Indiana's entire organization. Now the Pacers are effectively taking a gap a year away from contention. As such, it's clear that paying Turner was not so high on ownership's list of priorities, even if Haliburton is due back in 2026-27 with plenty of productive years ahead of him.

Indiana should be embarrassed. It's totally fair to be weary of paying Turner for four years at such a high price point, but this was the centerpiece of a championship-level defense. He has also been the heart and soul of your locker room for a decade. Sometimes you just need to invest in your dudes. Reward a decade of commitment to winning. Turner for $26.8 million annually, in this NBA economy, is hardly egregious. It's even worse that Turner now ends up in the division and with a chief rival.

Milwaukee has more or less salvaged the Giannis era for the time being, as Antetokounmpo played a central role in recruiting Turner to Milwaukee, per ESPN. With Brook Lopez on his way to Inglewood, Milwaukee gets a younger starting center with many of the same floor-spacing and shot-blocking qualities. Turner probably isn't quite on the level of Lopez's Bucks prime, but he does offer a bit more variety as a scorer and, again, he's younger. This is a huge get to reinforce Milwaukee's defense and keep this team competitive in an increasingly feisty East.

After back-to-back postseason disappointments, the Bucks finally pulled one over on the Pacers. Now Indiana sits in shame with very little to look forward to next season.