Confirming earlier comments from team president Kevin Pritchard, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle elaborated on the surprising departure of Myles Turner during his guest appearance on The Green Light with Chris Long podcast.
According to Carlisle, Indiana never had a real opportunity to match Milwaukee’s contract offer before Turner committed to the Bucks.
“We were in discussions with his agent about the possibility of him re-signing with us,” Carlisle said, as noted by HoopsHype.
“Then, almost out of the blue, Milwaukee made a bold move – they waived Damian Lillard and stretched his contract, which suddenly opened up enough cap space for them to go after Myles.”
Carlisle explained that in many negotiations across professional sports, teams often present a take-it-or-leave-it scenario.
“They’ll say something like, ‘Here’s our offer, for this amount and over this many years – but if we make this official, we need your commitment. No shopping it around.’ I think that’s exactly what happened here.”
As Carlisle described it, once the Bucks made their offer, Turner’s camp accepted it immediately, and Indiana was never given the chance to make a competing bid.
“It all happened fast. Those situations come up sometimes in this business, and when they do, you just have to move forward.”
Pacers Notes: Nembhard, Mathurin, Turner, Jackson, More https://t.co/dFlLTUG4cL pic.twitter.com/vuijRNGVrU
— Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors) July 18, 2025
