The Pacers are hoping to re-sign starting center Myles Turner next offseason, general manager Chad Buchanan told the media on Tuesday.
“We’re big believers in Myles,” Buchanan said. “We want him to be here.”
Turner, who will make $19,928,500 this season, will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. Complicating matters for Indiana is that Turner will not become extension-eligible before free agency.
As Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star points out, when Turner signed a two-year contract extension in January 2023, he and the Pacers also renegotiated of the final year of his previous contract. Typically, players become extension-eligible on the two-year anniversary of their previous signing, but renegotiating a contract pushes that timeline to three years.
The Pacers will have a small window after the NBA Finals to negotiate with Turner before other teams can come calling, thanks to a new rule allowing teams to exclusively negotiate with their own free agents between the end of the Finals and June 30.
Turner is an impact player at both ends of the floor. He averaged 17.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game last season. He has led the league in blocks twice and is also a respectable three-point shooter (35.4% for his career).
“His development fit with (coach Rick Carlisle’s) system,” Buchanan said. “He fit with our point guards. Fit with Pascal. You see how he seamlessly fits into the way we play.”
Re-signing Turner may not be a simple process, as Indiana has long-term salary cap concerns. Tyrese Haliburton and Siakam are on maximum-salary contracts, while forward Obi Toppin and guards Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell each signed long-term deals worth eight figures annually this offseason.
The Pacers will likely have to exceed the luxury tax threshold in 2025/26 to pay Turner market value and retain their core group.
Doesn’t a 2-yr extension added to a contract year count as a 3-yr contract in the eyes of the next extension period?
Yes, that wasn’t explained quite right in the original post — the reason Turner can’t be extended is because of the renegotiation, which pushes the timeline for his extension eligibility from two years to three.
If you’re the Pacers and if you want to stay a relevant team in the East then you have to resign Turner.
That being said, they almost always seem to lose guys, and somehow they’re still almost always competitive… Sooo, idk..lol
It’s a mistake to resign him for big money and a mistake to let him walk for nothing. And they can’t trade him and recoup a win-now player at that position. Rock and a hard place.
He’s gone.
Turner will get offers for at least $35M/yr.
Pacers can’t pay that.
6.9 rebounds for a center that plays as much as him is laughable. His blocks per game make it seems as if he is a good defender, but he really isnt that great.I dont see him leaving the Pacers tho like ever.
Yes I agree. Having a shot blocking Center can do more harm than good at times. They’ll leave their man to Chase a shot block opportunity and cause the shooter to miss, only to have the other team’s Center come up with an easy put back if the power forward or small forward doesn’t slide down and box out.
This is the guy the knicks need in my opinion.
nrg82 , Turner would put Knicks over the top, but they’re $30M short.
Trade Siakiam and Turner for Jabari Smith and someone else. See if Wiseman can be a C and if not look at young C’s and build around Hali and his age
They can’t trade Siakam this year since they just signed him. It’s a bad idea anyway. They’re trying to contend, not rebuild.
They still can contend making a trade or two. Two years from now they will trade him anyway watch. Just like how Orlando will trade KCP by next season. Finding players around Hali’s age is not going through a full rebuild. Two players coming in and two out is not a rebuild in two players doesn’t mean they would tank etc etc etc. so your comment is irrelevant
If IND is expecting to win building on the current group, without a reset or at least significant re-jigger, then they need to resign Turner. Right now, he’s simply more valuable to them than he would be to most other teams.
Generally, Turner is overrated, or at least has been for most of his career. He’s far more loved in 2k land than among the league’s FOs, including it appears his current FO, at least in the immediate past. But he does have two premium skills for a C, he blocks shots and hits 3’s. While they don’t make him a star, or even provide him with position flexibility (he’s a one position 5), they do provide his team with skill set flexibility at the PF spot. Something they’ve already leveraged to accelerate their rebuild. He’s also only 28. He’s not the guy to prune.
Gary, I agree with your take. There are some 5’s that overplay the blocked shot, and it only works if the rest of the team adapts. But the point is that it CAN work if executed properly, so you have to understand a team’s defensive scheme before criticizing a C for low rebound numbers.
Brook Lopez in Milwaukee is a great example. He averages only 6.2 rebs per game, but is still considered a top 3 defensive center, while Milwaukee has the best interior defense in the league. Milwaukee wants Lopez to focus on preventing shots while, like you say, their other forwards box out and rebound.
Hopefully warriors get him. Knicks makes sense for sure.
@Aristotle. That’s upto the owner and front office.