What looked like a painful breakup for the Indiana Pacers has already started to look like a savvy front-office call.
After the 2025 NBA Finals, Indiana spent the offseason staring at one huge question: would Myles Turner be back? Turner had been a major part of the franchise for years, and there was plenty of belief that he would return.
Instead, he signed a four-year, $108.9 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, a move that surprised a lot of people. The reason, according to the source, was Turner feeling disrespected by the Pacers during negotiations.
Indiana, for its part, showed real hesitation about paying him big money, even after everything he had done with the team. That caution has aged well. Turner’s first year in Milwaukee was a mess by his standards, with the veteran big man posting his lowest points, rebounds and blocks per game since his rookie season.
He finished with averages of 11.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.6 blocks across 71 games. The new setting may have played a role, but the production simply didn’t match the size of the contract.
That’s why the Pacers look like they may have seen something others didn’t. Indiana avoided committing major money to a player who is now 30 years old, and the Bucks are heading into what the source describes as somewhat of a rebuild. After years of underperforming with the Pacers, Turner may not be eager to stay through that kind of transition.
Indiana didn’t rush to find a direct replacement last offseason, choosing to open the year without a long-term answer at the spot. Still, the team did trade for Ivica Zubac, giving them a top option for the upcoming season.
So even without Turner, the Pacers ended up with value in hand. They didn’t pay more than $25 million a season for him, and they also kept moving forward. What looked risky at the time now reads as the right call.
With Tyrese Haliburton returning from injury, Indiana will go into the 2026-27 season with renewed hope for a title run.
In Other News...
T.J. McConnell Just Got The Kind Of Respect Pacers Fans Love
T.J. McConnells name popped up in a way Pacers fans could appreciate this week, with a podcast debate sparking a broader conversation about whether he could hold up in a one-on-one setting against NBA-level competition. It was the sort of discussion that can feel frivolous on the surface, but for a player like McConnell, whose value has always come from toughness, defense and steady playmaking, it turned into an unexpected reminder of how respected he is around the league.
Several current and former NBA players, including Giannis Antetokounmpo and Patrick Beverley, jumped in on social media to defend him, adding some real weight to the conversation. For Indiana, it was another sign that McConnells career has earned him more than just the usual role-player label, even if the original debate was never really about the full picture of what he brings to the Pacers every night. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Zubac Trade Suddenly Looks Different Than Fans Remember
When the Pacers made the move for Ivica Zubac, it was framed as one of those all-in roster swings that costs real future capital. Indiana sent out multiple assets, including two first-round picks plus Bennedict Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson, to get the center from the Clippers, and at the time the deal looked like a straightforward exchange of present help for long-term pain.
A guilty verdict tied to the Clippers cap circumvention scandal has since changed how the trade reads in hindsight, because the Pacers lost the 2029 draft pick that had been part of the original package. The optics of the deal have shifted, and so has the accounting around what Los Angeles actually received, but the core assets moved in the trade never changed, which leaves the final value of the swap looking a lot different than fans first remembered. [Read more 🡒]
Cavs Just Got A Clear Measuring Stick In The East
The Pacers keep drawing attention as one of the Easts most interesting barometers, because their projected starting five has the kind of balance that can make a team look far better than the sum of its parts. Tyrese Haliburton gives Indiana the pace and playmaking to stress defenses, Pascal Siakam adds a proven scoring and secondary creation threat, and the rest of the lineup has enough size and versatility to make this group a legitimate test for any contender trying to separate from the pack.
What makes the discussion around Indiana so compelling is not just the talent, but how the pieces fit against the conferences other top teams. Different Sports Illustrated voices have pointed to the same basic question: if the chemistry holds and the health breaks the right way, does this starting group become a clear tier marker in the East, or does one of the lineups softer spots keep it from joining the very top? [Read more 🡒]