Pacers’ Kevin Pritchard Says He Was ‘Shocked’ When Myles Turner Left For Bucks

Indiana Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said the team believed it was in serious negotiations to retain free agent center Myles Turner until the very moment Turner accepted a four-year, $109 million offer from the Milwaukee Bucks.

Speaking to reporters Monday, Pritchard said Indiana had been in “good-faith” talks with Turner’s camp and believed it was nearing a deal.

“I felt like we were working towards a deal,” Pritchard said, via The Athletic and the Indianapolis Star. “But when you’re unrestricted, as soon as you hear a number that you feel like is good for you, then I think he felt like he had to take that.”

Reports suggested Indiana was offering Turner a three-year deal worth approximately $22 to $23 million annually. While Pritchard wouldn’t confirm those numbers, he emphasized that ownership had been ready to spend.

“We weren’t trickling into the tax,” Pritchard said. “We were over a second threshold.”

While the Pacers never crossed the second tax apron, Pritchard’s comments suggest they were prepared to enter deeper luxury tax territory, a rare move for the franchise. Still, the final decision was Turner’s, and he found Milwaukee’s pitch too good to pass up.

“It’s his opportunity, it’s his right to say, ‘Hey, that’s it and I’m going in a different direction,’” Pritchard said. “It was never acrimonious. It was always pleasant going back and forth. I think that there was a number he was trying to hit. I think we were in the ballpark. But that’s my opinion. It must not have been for him.”

In fact, Pritchard didn’t learn about Turner’s decision from the player or his representatives.

“I saw Shams (Chjarania) tweet it, and that’s how I knew that Myles was taking (the Bucks’ offer),” he said. “I was shocked, if I’m being perfectly honest.”

Pritchard said Indiana would have been open to working with Milwaukee on a sign-and-trade, but the conversation never got that far. The Bucks cleared the cap space to sign Turner outright by waiving Damian Lillard and stretching the remaining $112.6 million on his contract.

“We always say in our conference room, there’s cap teams that have cap space and there’s shadow teams that have cap space,” Pritchard said. “You can go get it, but it becomes very challenging by buying out (players) or making trades. Hat tip to Milwaukee to do that. I can’t tell you that we were fully expecting that.”

Turner, 28, had spent all nine of his NBA seasons with Indiana. Now, he’s a central piece for the Bucks, who appear to be reshaping their roster around younger legs and more frontcourt versatility.

As for the Pacers, they are moving on with optimism, but not without surprise.