After years of bandying his name about in trade talks, the Pacers will hold on to center Myles Turner for the time being.
The center agreed to a two-year, $60 million contract extension with the Pacers, according to a Saturday afternoon report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The deal reportedly includes a $17 million renegotiation on his salary this season, the largest in the history of the NBA, and will pay Turner $20.9 million next season and $19.9 million in 2024-25.
The 26-year-old is in his eighth season in the NBA, all spent with the Pacers. He was the league’s leading shot-blocker in 2019 and 2021, and was named second team All-Rookie in ’16.
According to Wojnarowski, Indiana made to move in order to solidify a “core built around him and guard Tyrese Hailburton.” The Pacers, led by those two players and rookie forward Bennedict Mathurin, are currently ninth in the Eastern Conference.
Previously, Turner’s name has featured prominently in trade discussions, and in November he suggested the Lakers “take a very hard look” at trading for him on a podcast with Wojnarowski.
