Myles Turner has agreed to a four-year, $107 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. The long-time Indiana Pacer will stay put in the Central Division, but now calls Milwaukee his home — the first time in his NBA career it hasn’t been Indiana.
“Turner, the longest tenured Pacer, made it known he wished to remain in Indiana. Since the Game 7 exit, Turner’s reps pushed to get a deal done,” Charania tweeted. “Ultimately, Indiana’s aversion to the tax, which grew after Tyrese Haliburton’s injury, allowed Bucks to get the new franchise center.”
BREAKING: Free agent center Myles Turner has agreed to a four-year, $107 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, plus a player option for year four in 2028-29 and a full 15% trade kicker, sources tell ESPN. Stunner. pic.twitter.com/MlDkZusVOv
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2025
According to NBA Insider Jake Fischer, “Indiana’s offers for Turner never truly exceeded the three-year, $60 million range.”
Turner was drafted by the Pacers in 2015 and spent the past 10 years there. He averaged 15.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 39.6 percent from deep last season, and was an integral part of Indiana’s 2023-24 Eastern Conference Finals appearance and 2024-25 NBA Finals appearance.
Grade: C-
With Brook Lopez headed to the Los Angeles Clippers, the Bucks certainly needed to find a viable replacement at center as Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future casts a shadow upon their outlook. Turner is about as much of a 1:1 tradeoff they could find, given his credentials as a legitimate floor-spacing 5 who also protects the interior. Much like Lopez, Turner can punish switches as a post scorer, even if neither should be relied upon for heavy volume there.
Antetokounmpo’s downhill dominance is best complemented by a stretch big man, so Turner’s arrival should pair aptly on offense. Defensively, his rim protection will be vital. According to NBA.com, opponents shot 8.2 percent worse than their average when Turner was the primary defender on field goals within 6 feet of the hoop.
The similarities between Turner and Lopez don’t end with their rosy superlatives. Turner’s mobility as a pick-and-roll defender, particularly his ability to change directions, has declined significantly in recent years. Lopez’s lack of mobility had increasingly posed issues for Milwaukee and left him susceptible in space. Turner himself gave Lopez massive fits during their first-round matchup 2.5 months ago, when Lopez’s minutes were reduced to just 14.8 per game in a five-game defeat.
However, Turner is eight years younger than the 37-year-old Lopez, a more versatile off-ball scorer and still moves far better than Lopez on the perimeter. This acquisition is about upgrading an archetype that’s proven to fit snugly around Milwaukee’s franchise superstar in Antetokounmpo.
Turner will be 34 by the time this deal ends, so it’s absolutely possible the final year or two ages poorly for the Bucks. Plus, the lack of a steady guard ball-handler with the news Damian Lillard is being waived and stretched (per Charania) could dampen some of Turner’s opportunities offensively. He clearly benefited substantially from Tyrese Haliburton’s presence, highlighted by these stats courtesy of Caitlin Cooper:
Another example:
From his rookie season to when the Pacers traded for Haliburton, IND scored 0.945 PPC w/ Turner as the screener & he only rolled on 55.2% of the picks
Since trading for Haliburton: 1.040, rolling on 65.7% https://t.co/NTaqydQVDt
— Caitlin Cooper (@C2_Cooper) June 30, 2025
Just as an example of the major impact he has on Turner's game: Turner led the Pacers in top of the key 3PA last season, including the playoffs (279).
w/ Tyrese on the court: Turner shot 40.5% on 244 attempts
w/o Tyrese: He shot 22.9% on just 35 attempts https://t.co/LHsr4cFah1
— Caitlin Cooper (@C2_Cooper) June 30, 2025
The decision to waive and stretch Lillard is the coal in this stocking of a deal. The price point and fit for Turner are shrewd because he’s a good, logical addition. Yet bringing him in required punting on Lillard and signing up for five years of ~$23 million worth of dead money on the books each season.
Maybe, Lillard never reaches star-level production again post-injury. There’s a strong chance of that. He’ll be 36 by the next time he suits up and would be defying the odds to return as an excellent, championship-caliber player. But the alternative, this core of Antetokounmpo, Turner, Kevin Porter Jr., Gary Trent Jr. and Kyle Kuzma, surely isn’t challenging for an Eastern Conference crown, even in next year’s injury riddled East.
Milwaukee has little draft capital or financial flexibility to improve over the next few seasons, which will presumably be the final runway of the 30-year-old Antetokounmpo’s prime. Getting creative to acquire Turner could signal to Antetokounmpo — who Charania reported “valued the opportunity to partner” with Turner — that the franchise refuses to roll over. That in itself may be valuable to retain him for the time being.
Regardless, there’s little upside with this roster and scant pathways to unearth that vital upside (the NBA landscape does move at warp speed, though, so who knows!). Lillard’s presence, the sheer hope that he could rediscover his (super)stardom in 2026-27, was the most tangible kernel of upside the franchise held to vie for deep playoff runs.
Now, it’s evaporated for a good-not-great player who, through no real fault of his own, is unlikely to change Milwaukee’s title fortunes for the better. It’s a tough pill to swallow, and no amount of admirable, gusto-driven decision-making can paper over that reality.
