Myles Turner Trade Rumor Escalates: Pacers Star Center Sparks NBA Off-Season Frenzy

Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner is dominating headlines again as the franchise races through the Eastern Conference Finals and faces a pivotal offseason decision on its defensive anchor. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reports that ownership is “willing to increase spending” and may even wade back into the luxury tax to keep Turner, yet rival executives remain skeptical that Indiana will match a market-value deal. Turning 29, the 6-foot-11 shot-blocker just delivered a regular season of 15.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks while hitting a career-best 39.6% from three. In the playoffs he’s been even more efficient, drilling 41.7% from deep and protecting the rim at a 2.3 blocks-per-game clip, a two-way combination that few NBA centers can match. Contract talks will start around the $30-million-per-year range—the price comparable big men like Isaiah Hartenstein commanded last summer—and that figure would push Indiana’s projected $167.9 million payroll toward the first luxury-tax apron. The new CBA restricts mid-level moves once a team crosses that threshold, so every dollar committed to Turner limits President Kevin Pritchard’s flexibility to upgrade around Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam and Bennedict Mathurin. Even so, letting Turner walk would leave a roster gap larger than his stat line. He anchors Indiana’s top-10 pick-and-roll defense, stretches the floor to give Haliburton downhill lanes, and has become the franchise’s longest-tenured voice in the locker room. Fans still remember how the Pacers’ last true contender unraveled when rim protector Roy Hibbert declined; the front office is determined not to repeat that script in the middle of a title window. Financially, Indiana can create wiggle room by declining team options on back-end contracts or shopping expiring deals such as T.J. McConnell’s. Early chatter around the league suggests suitors like the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder are monitoring Turner’s situation, but neither can offer the blend of money, minutes and playoff relevance he currently enjoys in Indianapolis. In the immediate term, Turner’s focus remains on closing out the Knicks and punching the Pacers’ first Finals ticket since 2000. Yet every swatted shot and pick-and-pop triple increases his leverage when negotiations begin on July 1. For Indiana, the calculation is simple: pay up or risk watching a decade-long cornerstone—and perhaps a championship dream—walk out the door.