Bucks Came Out of Nowhere to Blindside Pacers in Myles Turner Sweepstakes

The Milwaukee Bucks have been one of the more active teams this offseason.

They didn't start the free agency period on a high note, as they lost their star center, Brook Lopez, to the Los Angeles Clippers on the first day.

The Bucks also had limited assets and money to make a serious move, but then, on the second day of free agency, Milwaukee made a major move.

Milwaukee shockingly waived Damian Lillard, and in the process, they signed arguably the best big man on the free agency market, Myles Turner. All signs pointed to Turner re-signing with the Indiana Pacers; however, the Bucks did what they needed to do to steal Turner from the team he had spent the last 10 seasons with.

Turner will now be the starting center for a Bucks team that will look to make some noise in the East. As for the Pacers, they are limited at their center position now, a spot they did not see themselves in just a little over a week ago, including owners Herb Simon, Steven Rales and the Simon family.

According to Pacers president Kevin Pritchard, the Bucks came out of nowhere to steal Turner from the Pacers.

"(Owners) Herb Simon and Steven Rales and the Simon family were fully prepared to go deep into the tax to keep him and we really wanted to do that," Pritchard said. "We were negotiating in good faith, but what happens in this league is sometimes you're negotiating, but because a guy is unrestricted, he has the right to say, 'That's the offer I want and I'm gonna take it and that's best for my family.' Again, we were in good faith negotiations. It was a little surprising how Milwaukee created that. ... Hat tip to Milwaukee to do that."

The Pacers were reportedly set to go over the luxury tax in order to retain Turner.

However, Tyrese Haliburton’s Achilles injury shifted everything for the Pacers, casting real doubt on their status as contenders heading into next season.

As for the Bucks, they’ll look to regroup and make a serious push in the East — something they haven’t done since their title run back in the 2020-21 campaign.

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