Even though they didn’t get Deandre Ayton, the Pacers‘ decision to submit an offer sheet to the free agent center indicates that Myles Turner is probably on the way out, writes James Boyd of The Indianapolis Star.
Turner, 26, was the subject of trade rumors before this year’s deadline, but Indiana decided to keep him and move Domantas Sabonis instead. Turner wound up missing the final 39 games of the season with a stress reaction in his left foot, which could affect his trade value, but Boyd believes there’s still a market for him.
Turner has a $17.5MM expiring contract for next season, and Boyd expects the Pacers to pursue trades for other players with expiring deals to preserve their 2023 cap space. Indiana opened up additional room by waiving four players on Thursday before submitting the offer sheet to Ayton.
There’s more from Indiana:
- Aaron Nesmith didn’t get the playing time he was hoping for in Boston after being selected in the 2020 lottery, but he’s hoping for a fresh start with the Pacers, Boyd states in a separate story. Nesmith, who was part of the return for Malcolm Brogdon, said his time with the Celtics was still a valuable experience. “I learned what it takes to win in this league,” he said. “Being able to be a part of a Finals run, make it to the playoffs both of my years, get some playoff experience. So hopefully I can bring that over here to Indiana and kind of show the other young guys what it takes to win and that nothing’s gonna be given to you.”
- The Pacers will shut down first-round pick Bennedict Mathurin for the rest of Summer League, citing “precautionary reasons,” Boyd adds in another piece. Mathurin played well in his first three games, averaging 19.3 points and 4.0 rebounds while shooting 48.8% from the field and 38.5% from three-point range. Isaiah Jackson and Terry Taylor will also be sidelined for the team’s final two games.
- In an interview with NBA TV, coach Rick Carlisle raved about the trade that brought Tyrese Haliburton to Indiana in February, according to Boyd. “Haliburton, yeah, that changed everything for this franchise,” Carlisle said. “Now you got free agents that want to come play for the Pacers because they want to come play with Tyrese Haliburton and that’s a huge deal.”
It’s the Pacers, now that they don’t have Ayton they’re just gonna keep Turner and then act like they always wanted to keep him and they need him to sign long term. We’ve been through this SO. MANY. TIMES. If only a meteor could come and clear out the front office because it’s not like Simon is going to.
Why on earth would the fact that the Pacers did not get a different center mean that their current center is “on his way out”? Shouldn’t it mean the opposite? I swear commentators can’t think straight sometimes.
Pacers are gonna be so disappointed in Halburton. He’s a fine player, but he’s not a superstar you can build a team around. Just a more-polished-than-usual college guy who came into the league as the second-best player on a bad team, and made a reputation that way. I actually think Duarte is better.
Based on what? His great shooting? His great steal rate? His great assist rate and low TO rate? I can see how that can be disappointing. That he’s 22 means the disappointment will continue.
Yeah I don’t think you could be more off in that assessment. If you want to knock Halliburton’s defense that’s fair but in no way is Duarte the better player. Pacers traded an offense first poor defense C for similar PG. in todays NBA that’s a win 7 days a week.
The Suns did Indy a favor. Ayton is an overrated double double big. Look at where the Celtics and Warriors got their centers – at the bottom of the first round.
Warriors drafted a center #2 overall a couple years ago
Rick, no FAs are coming to Indiana because of Haliburton. Even Ayton only signed out of spite.
What do you know?
I doubt Turner wants to play there. Why stay. I’d be asking out. I always liked Turner and Sabonis. What they missed was a PG like Haliburton for those two.
I know Pacers can get value for Turner. And Buddy. With Mathurin, Haliburton, Duarte they have three solid young pieces to build around. Adding Ayton a 23 yr old. And not giving up anything. Would have been a great move.