"They are going to have some explaining to do to" - Brian Windhorst reckons the Pacers stars are furious with the team letting Myles Turner go to their rivals
After a remarkable postseason run that culminated in a Game 7 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals, the Indiana Pacers have been weakened by the departure of their sentinel inside the shaded lane, Myles Turner, who signed a four-year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks that would reportedly pay him $107 million.
With superstar point guard Tyrese Haliburton expected to miss most, if not all, of next season due to the Achilles tendon tear he suffered in Game 7, the Pacers suddenly don't look like the formidable team they were last season. ESPN reporter Brian Windhorst suggested that the team's front office will need to address this decision with its core players, as it's likely the news was not well-received.
The Pacers' longest-tenured player
Turner is beloved within the Pacers organization, which drafted him 11th overall in the 2015 NBA Draft out of Texas. A 6'11" center who's able to draw opposing big men away from the paint with his deft shooting touch (he shot a career-high 39 percent from three-point land last season) while also being a dependable rim protector (2.0 blocks per game this season), Myles was a substantial reason why the Pacers made it all the way to the finals this past season.
Although Turner had made it known he wanted to remain a Pacer and had his representatives try to get a deal done as soon as possible, it appears Indiana's decision-makers were hesitant to pay the luxury tax, thus paving the way for the Bucks to swoop in and sign him.
Windy said the front office's hesitation and subsequent decision to let Myles walk will not go well with the Pacers' locker room.
"I can't imagine how furious I would be if I was one of the Indiana Pacers core players or their fans right now. If Myles Turner was being paid like twice his value or something like that, I would get it. But this is not a place to draw a line when you're the Eastern Conference champions," Windhorst said on "First Take."
"So the Pacers are now going to face this fallout. They are going to have some explaining to do to their star players. The Pacers have been weakened both this season and into the future. They don't have another player on their roster who can fill in here," he emphasized.Starting centers don't grow on trees
While NBA teams continue to thrive in the pace-and-space era, there's no question regarding the crucial role NBA big men play. As the Thunder showed in their run to the title, having two centers in Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren allowed perimeter defenders like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort and Alex Caruso to play more aggressively on the ball.
Turner did precisely that for the Pacers as he accumulated a franchise record 46 blocks in their recent postseason run. ESPN's Tim Bontemps stressed that, as close as the Pacers were to the Larry O'Brien trophy a few weeks ago, they've now drifted far away from it.
"They had a chance to win the first NBA title. Now they feel farther away from it than ever," Bontemps expressed. "You have Tyrese Haliburton now out for the season. You have Myles Turner now leaving. And let's, Brian just called it. This is a cheap move by the Pacers."
"That is a hard thing to swallow if you're a Pacers fan, if you're a Pacers player on a team that had finally come together in this remarkable way, had this unbelievable run in the playoffs, all these great plays, Tyrese Haliburton making all these shots, Myles Turner having a great playoffs up until the NBA finals, and now they feel like they're back to square one," he added.
Money will always matter in professional sports. Despite Haliburton being out for next season, the Pacers had a chance to retain their core players and make another deep run. However, with Turner leaving for greener pastures, the team's future is now uncertain.This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 2, 2025, where it first appeared.
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