ESPN Insider Clarifies Pacers’ Myles Turner Offer as Bucks Swoop In and Sign Star Center

As the NBA offseason rages on, several teams are already looking vastly different from how they were earlier this year. One big move that occurred was the Pacers, fresh off an NBA Finals appearance, dealing away their longest tenured player, Myles Turner. The 29-year-old center was picked up by the Bucks on a four-year deal worth $107 million.

How did the Pacers let that happen? Well, for starters, the Eastern Conference Champs lost Tyrese Haliburton to a severe injury in Game 7 of the Finals against the Thunder. Hali is expected to be on the shelf for quite some time.

This forced the Pacers to restructure their roster, but a big reason for losing Turner was that they were not willing to dig deep into their luxury tax. That is at least what famed analyst Brian Windhorst is reporting. Windy covered the Turner to Milwaukee move on today’s ESPN broadcast.

“They made offers to Myles Turner that would have put them in the luxury tax,” said Windy moments after calling the Bucks one of Indy’s biggest rivals. “To be honest with you, $27 million a year is market value. We had Jakob Poeltl sign with the Raptors today for roughly the same contract. Naz Reid, last week, signed for roughly the same price. Slightly less than this.”

The 47-year-old TV personality added that Indy did make a serviceable offer to Tuner. Unfortunately, because of their history with the luxury tax, they weren’t willing to break the bank.

“This isn’t a contract that’s out of line but clearly the Pacers weren’t willing to go that deep into the luxury tax. The Pacers has not been a team that is willing, or has clearance to spend into the tax. They have not paid the tax in 20 years,” he revealed.

Turner most likely would still be on the team if Haliburton had not suffered such a physical career setback and Windy agrees. “If Tyrese Haliburton had not gotten injured, this may have had a different outcome. But he did, and there was a line that the Pacers were not willing to cross.”

With that said, the Pacers were also blindsided by Milwaukee being so aggressive toward their star center. Windy claimed that the move came entirely out of left field, and their lack of preparation sealed Turner’s fate to the Bucks.

“They didn’t plan for this. When they were looking and seeing what they thought have to pay they were not planning for the Bucks to come in and make this bid and I’m sure it hit them out of the blue,” stated Windhorst.

It’s crazy how quickly the Pacers’ fate turned. They were THE team of the 2025 postseason, and battled their way to the Finals on the backs of Hali, Turner, Siakam, McConnell, and more. Had Haliurton not hurt himself in Game 7, they could have gone on to win the championship as well, but that will remain a what-if that haunts fans in Indy.

Hali’s loss and the subsequent consequences have now affected the Pacers, and losing their longest tenured player will be painful for a lot of fans. And the worst part? Free agency is far from over. Indiana will probably acquire some capital in this period, but the magical run is seemingly hitting a wall.