Turner took the money and ran, no explanation necessary

Milwaukee moved the sun and the stars to acquire Turner. He was under no obligation to give the Pacers a chance to match or exceed the Bucks' offer. None.

I don’t blame Myles Turner, not in the least. He took the money and ran; who among us wouldn’t have taken a similar tack?

For the better part of 10 years, he was on the trade market. In 2022, Kevin Pritchard and the Pacers’ brass extended an offer sheet to center Deandre Ayton, a clear slap in the face to Turner. So when another team comes along with a rich contract – when another team is willing to not only pay up, but waive-and-stretch Damian Lillard in order to create the cap room necessary to sign Turner – why wouldn’t you break into a broad smile and accept the offer? And where is it written that Turner, or any other player, should be beholden to his original team and is required to let them match or exceed another contract number?

We all like to be wooed. We all like to be told we’re worth more money. We all like to hear we’re viewed as a second offensive weapon after years of being the third or fourth in Indianapolis. Turner did right by the Pacers for 10 years, including signing one contract that could be described as franchise-friendly. He was a total pro who handled himself beautifully both on the court and off.

He owed the Pacers NOTHING, at least nothing beyond what he provided this past decade.

So here’s how it went down, at least according to Pritchard, who spent more than a half hour talking with the local media Monday at the team’s practice facility:

The Pacers were in the process of negotiating a contract with Turner, had made an initial offer, when the Bucks, who were not viewed as a team that had any cap room to make this kind of move, shocked the NBA by waiving Lillard and creating the space to sign Turner. How much did the Pacers offer? The numbers I’ve heard vary, but suffice to say it was somewhat lower than the four-year, $107 million the Bucks. A lot less? A little less? I’m guessing if you asked Turner, and I hope we hear from him at some point, he’d tell you the Pacers low-balled him. The Pacers will deny that, saying they were more than willing to go deep into the luxury tax to accommodate him.

The Pacers expected they’d be able to counter, match or exceed any offers that may have come along, but there, they were wrong. Once the Bucks blind-sided them, Turner did the same. He got the offer and accepted it within minutes, leaving the Pacers in the worst spot imaginable: They had lost their starting center and they had lost him for nothing. There’s no other way to spin it: They got crushed.

“I saw Shams (Charania of ESPN) tweet it,” Pritchard said. “And that’s how I knew Myles was taking the offer.”

Were the Pacers blindsided, I asked Pritchard.

Damned right they were. Especially by Milwaukee, who didn’t seem to have the cap room to pull off this move.

“I was shocked, if I’m being perfectly honest,” he said.

The Pacers are bitter (well, disappointed) they never had a chance to counter the Bucks offer, insisting they would have matched the Milwaukee number if given the chance. Of course, that’s easy to say now, isn’t it? They’re also angry at the Bucks for not engaging in a sign and trade, as they did a few years back when Malcolm Brogdon was acquired.

But if you’re Turner, who’s been jacked around during his time in Indy, you’re looking at the big number from Milwaukee and saying, “They think I’m worth the investment. Screw the Pacers.”

Again, this is not greed or betrayal or any of those ugly buzzwords. The guy took the cash. Who wouldn’t do the same thing?

“We were negotiating in good faith,” Pritchard said. “But what happens in this league is sometimes, you’re negotiating, but because a guy is unrestricted, he has the right to say, `That’s the offer I want. I’m going to take it and that’s best for my family.’…I think we were in the (contractual) ballpark. But that’s my opinion. It must not have been for him.”

Maybe we’ll hear from Turner at some point, but if we’re being honest, he doesn’t owe anybody an explanation.

Any way you slice it, this is a devastating loss for a team that came within 24 minutes of winning an NBA title. The Pacers will now go centers-by-committee, looking for production from Isaiah Jackson, Jay Huff, James Wiseman and Tony Bradley. Huff is particularly intriguing, another guy who got lost in the shuffle in his previous stops but has ample athleticism and a nice touch from three. The Pacers have had extraordinary success with players like that; consider Aaron Nesmith, who got lost in the Celtics deep rotation before coming to Indiana and blowing up into a quality starter on an NBA Finals team.

“Unless he’s got a clone, I’m not sure you can replace Myles Turner,” Pritchard said.

So where does that put the Pacers as they head into this gap year without Tyrese Haliburton and Turner? First, don’t assume this is going to be their team as it’s presently constituted. Pritchard said repeatedly Monday that the Pacers would be aggressive about making moves, whether that involves a starting center or a player at another position. There’s a vacuum in the East, what with all the devastating injuries and cap maneuverings by teams like Boston, as an example. But it’s still going to be a challenge to reach the playoffs.

I can see them being a bottom-tier playoff team. Which would be an accomplishment.

“We have some challenges but you know, we like what we have and I think we’ve done our best when we’ve had a chip on our shoulder when everybody counts us out in a series or a season,” Pritchard said. “I’m not so sure you should count us out yet.”

They still have one of the best, if not THE best, coaching staff in the league. They still have most of the essential pieces remaining from an NBA Finals team, save for Haliburton and Turner. They still have a great culture. They still play a unique style that frustrates opponents – although it will be difficult to maintain the same sort of pace without Haliburton at the controls.

Pritchard doesn’t have Haliburton or Turner, but he still has the memories of a run that will live forever in civic sports lore. He was talking Monday about the minutes before Game 7.

“I went up to Ty and asked him, `How are you feeling?’ He said he felt great. And he says, `Are you nervous?’ And I didn’t want to say I’m really freaking nervous but yeah, I’m nervous. And he looked me dead in the eye and say, don’t worry, we’ve got this. And I remember him hitting those three threes and in my mind, I’m like, we’re winning this game.”

The last two years, he said, have been his two favorite seasons as an NBA executive, not just because the Pacers were winning, but because of how they won. The togetherness. The collective excellence. The culture. The style of play. It was a beautiful thing to behold.

Now, everything changes, at least for one season. Haliburton will not play next season. Turner will be in Milwaukee, and while I’m sure he’ll get booed when he returns for a game in Indy, it would be inappropriate. Again, Turner did nothing wrong. He owed the Pacers nothing more than he provided for them the past 10 years. He took the money and ran, and I wish him all the best.