It’s already been an eventful offseason in the NBA, even for the teams that just finished contesting the Finals. The Thunder locked up Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams to long-term deals, guaranteeing that they’ll continue to be the favorites for the foreseeable future. Things are a bit different in Indiana, where the Pacers are staring at a lost season in the wake of Tyrese Haliburton’s heartbreaking Game 7 Achilles tear.
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If the Pacers’ run to within a game of winning the championship was like something straight out of Cinderella, Haliburton’s injury was like the glass slipper shattering and the stagecoach turning back into a pumpkin. Indiana got vital contributions from so many more players than just their All-NBA point guard, but without him, they’re going to have a tough time getting anywhere near another Eastern Conference title.
To top it all off, Myles Turner left in free agency and to make matters worse, he went to Indiana’s central division rival, the Milwaukee Bucks. Milwaukee has been a cauldron of activity this offseason, with early speculation that Giannis Antetokounmpo might ask for a trade giving way to a shocking cut of Damian Lillard (also on the shelf with a postseason Achilles tear).
With the money the Bucks freed up by putting an end to Dame Time, they poached Turner from the Pacers, the team he’s played for his entire career. The shot-blocking stretch 5 locked up a four-year, $107 million deal and his team change could drastically alter the landscape in a weakened Eastern Conference next year.
Dwyane Wade spoke about Turner’s move on his latest podcast and was bullish on the move.
“Now you’re without Hali for a whole year so we’re in a rebuild in a sense, not all the way rebuild but rebuild enough, let me go over here next to Giannis,” Wade said. “Imma go over here and play next to Giannis. Let me see what’s up. Let me go and get myself another chance in the Eastern Conference and win me a championship. I felt it.”
Turner will fill the hole left by Brook Lopez, who left to take a two-year deal with the Clippers. It also allows the Bucks, one of the league’s oldest teams, to get a bit younger and more athletic.
Turner isn’t the same level of player that Wade was, but he can still be a difference-maker, especially as so many other teams in the East, like the Celtics with Jayson Tatum, deal with catastrophic injuries.
Wade spent 12 years in Miami, then left to play for his hometown Bulls before briefly joining LeBron James in Cleveland. He knows what it’s like to leave the only team you’ve ever known, and so he trusted Turner’s judgment to make the move. “I think it was the right time for him,” Wade said.
“I think it was a good move. My legacy was good there, let me go try to do something else for the end of my career.”
Not many have faulted Turner for taking the Bucks’ offer, especially after he reported that Indiana lowballed him. Many are questioning, though, the wisdom of the Bucks stretching Dame’s contract out in an effort to keep Giannis happy. The internet has also had some fun at Turner’s expense, such as wondering how he plans on moving his famously large LEGO collection.
