The New York Knicks and star point guard Jalen Brunson faced off against the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals last season. They came up short, losing to the Pacers in six games.
Heading into the offseason, the expectation was that Indiana would re-sign longtime starting center Myles Turner in NBA free agency. Even though Tyrese Haliburton will be out all of the 2025-26 season due to the torn Achilles he suffered in the NBA Finals, no one thought Turner was leaving.
Turner shocked the NBA with his decision to leave the Pacers for a four-year, $108.9 million contract with the Central Division rival Milwaukee Bucks.
Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images
For years, Turner has been at the center of trade rumors and was a piece that Indiana was expected to part with at some point in time. The second that he was expected to stay with the Pacers, he bolted.
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Brunson recently spoke out on his podcast about the situation. He lightly called out Turner for the way that he up and left Indiana.
“I thought the Myles Turner thing was weird,” Brunson said. “Like he just said, ‘It’s been a decade here’ and all this stuff and everything, and then, boom, gone.”
He’s not wrong. The Pacers have opened up about how the situation went down and it certainly caught them by surprise.
Rick Carlisle, Indiana’s head coach, spoke out about how the move unfolded.
“We were talking to him — him being his agent — about returning and really out of nowhere, Milwaukee decided to waive Damian Lillard and stretch his money out. They created space to sign Myles,” Carlisle said.
“I think what probably happened, and this is part of negotiations with any sport, a team will say, ‘Hey look, we have this offer, but if we make this offer, we need to know you’re going to take it and not shop it.'”
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Throughout his 10-year tenure with the Pacers, Turner played in 642 games and made 609 starts. He averaged 14.1 points per game to go along with 6.8 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, and 1.3 assists. Turner also shot 49.9 percent overall and 36.2 percent from the three-point line.
Indiana went out and acquired Jay Huff in a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies to help replace Turner. The Pacers also re-signed both James Wiseman and Isaiah Jackson.
Even though Turner leaving was a big surprise, Indiana seems to have moved on well.
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