Milwaukee Bucks: Pacers Coach Breaks Silence on Losing Myles Turner to Fierce Rival

Right at the start of NBA free agency, the Bucks announced their intention to have and stretch Lillard’s contract, which had two years (one of them a player option) and over $110 million left on it. By waiving him, Milwaukee guaranteed his player option and will pay the nine-time All-Star over $20 million a season for the next five years.

And while that may seem like a lot of money to pay a player for not suiting up for them, the move allowed the Bucks to create cap space to sign former Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner.

Turner, has career averages of 14.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game, was signed to replace Brook Lopez, who signed a two-year contract with the Los Angeles Clippers.

The move was met with great joy by Bucks fans, who had seen Turner play very well against Milwaukee during his decade with Indiana.

But the Pacers themselves were blindsided.

Indiana Pacers Head Coach Rick Carlisle Breaks Silence on Myles Turner Signing with the Milwaukee Bucks

In a recent interview with Chris Long on “Green Light,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle revealed that Indiana had no idea Turner was thinking of leaving the team, much less for the biggest rivals:

“Losing Myles Turner is a signifiant loss for our team, the guy’s a terrific player and he had a great season. 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.

“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.'”

As one can see, Carlisle theorizes that Milwaukee engaged in contract negotiations with Turner’s representatives under the condition they not tell anyone about it.

They did the same thing when they started negotiating the trade for Lillard in the first place.

Whatever the case, this signing was a big offseason win for the Bucks over their most-hated rivals.