Pacers center Myles Turner will miss the remainder of the 2021/22 season, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Turner, who turned 26 last Thursday, has been sidelined since January 14 due to a stress reaction in his left foot. According to Wojnarowski, Turner has made “good progress” in his recovery, but the Pacers only have seven games remaining and are out of the playoff hunt, so it doesn’t make sense to bring back the big man at this point.
Prior to going down with his foot injury, Turner averaged 12.9 PPG, 7.1 RPG, and 2.8 BPG in 42 games (29.4 MPG) for Indiana. His name surfaced in several trade rumors earlier in the season, but his injury diminished his value to some extent and Indiana ended up moving its other center, Domantas Sabonis, while hanging onto Turner.
It’s still possible the retooling squad will shop Turner this offseason ahead of the final year of his contract. But with Sabonis no longer in the mix, the Pacers may be more inclined to keep Turner, perhaps envisioning him as their long-term starting center.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN observes (via Twitter), Turner is eligible for a contract extension this offseason and Indiana could theoretically use its cap room to to renegotiate the last year of his current deal, giving him a raise on next year’s $18MM salary as part of an extension agreement.
I don’t see any reason they would trade Myles unless they’re getting another big in return bc while Goga has talent he’s not a starter level 5 in the NBA at this point. Myles, Goga, IJackson & JSmith is a good young frontcourt but I def expect Indy to draft a big with 1 of their 1st rd picks as well
Agreed those 4 make a nice big man crew. Indy should prioritize adding some forwards to go along with Hali and hield (if he’s in the future plans?).
I think re-signing Warren should be their #1 priority as long as he’s healthy. He’s always been good for them but he’s even more perfect for this Pacers roster than any of the others he played on. I think they should target the 2 top in state prospects without their 2 1sts, Jaden Ivey & Trayce Jackson-Davis. Oshae Brissett is a keeper too. If they bring Lance back like they should then they’re looking at possibly having TJ Warren/Buddy Hield/Jaden Ivey/Oshae Brissett/Lance Stephenson as their wings & that would definitely be the strength of their team, even as great as Haliburton could end up being next yr. Indy could be a Midwest version of what Memphis has going rn in the Mid-South
Tanky tanky bing bong