Pacers Notes: Turner, Haliburton, Theis, Cap Room

As a result of his contract renegotiation and extension, Pacers center Myles Turner now has base salaries of $34,596,500 this season, $20,975,000 in 2023/24, and $19,928,500 in ’24/25, Hoops Rumors has learned. Since Turner’s original base salary for this season was $17.5MM, his deal features exactly $58MM in new money.

Turner could technically earn his maximum salary of $37,096,500 this season, since he has another $2.5MM in likely and unlikely incentives available in 2022/23 from his previous contract. In his two new extension years, he’ll have $3MM in total bonuses ($1.5MM annually), so the renegotiation-and-extension could be worth up to $61MM overall.

Here’s more on the Pacers:

• Discussing his decision to sign an extension with Indiana, Turner expressed confidence in the direction of the franchise and suggested he believes he has plenty of room to continue improving, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “I have such a strong belief in this organization and this city and what the city encompasses,” he said. “That’s a huge factor in my decision to stay it. … I’m just getting started. I’m just starting to feel like the best version of myself.”
• Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who has been sidelined since January 11 due to elbow and knee injuries, practiced on Tuesday and Wednesday and is on track to be available on Thursday when Indiana hosts the Lakers, head coach Rick Carlisle said today (Twitter link via the team).
• Carlisle was less certain today about Daniel Theis‘ status for Thursday, tweets Dopirak, but the veteran center has been practicing this week and said after Tuesday’s session that he had “no pain (and) no issues,” according to Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. Theis, out all season due to a knee ailment, continues to target a Thursday return, Agness adds.
• If the Pacers want to make use of the $10.7MM in remaining cap room they still have available this season, they’ll have to renounce their cap hold for Tyreke Evans, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter). Given that Evans hasn’t played in the NBA in 2019, the Pacers likely won’t hesitate to remove that cap hold from their books if an opportunity arises to take advantage of their cap space.