Indiana Pacers Rick Carlisle had Myles Turner anchor his defense and become his extension on the floor with his leadership. That won’t happen anymore as the big man is now with the Milwaukee Bucks after his surprise signing with the bitter rivals.
They were not ready to let him go though. The only problem is that their offer was not heard.
Appearing at the Green Light podcast, the one-time champion coach revealed that they letting Turner go was not on their mind. Turner was their longest-tenured player before the signing with Milwaukee. Carlisle also thought that he played great for them in the playoffs.
“Losing Myles Turner is a significant loss to our team. The guy’s been a terrific player he had a great season,” he said in the interview.
Carlisle then went on to detail how a supposed talk with the 2015 11th overall pick did not even take place as he accepted the offer from the Bucks right away.
“We were talking to them. Them meaning his agent about him returning and you know really kind out of nowhere, Milwaukee decide to waive Damian Lillard, stretch his contract, stretch his money out over whatever number of years.”
Myles Turner being pirated is business
The coach seems to be moving on already from the situation, finding it normal in the league. He also confirmed what Pacers president Kevin Pritchard said about how they want to retain Turner.
“He can do it by rule. And then they created space to sign Myles. . . and this is part of negotiation in any sport. You know, a team will say ‘Hey! Look, we have this offer. It’s this much over this many years but if we make this offer, we need to know that you’re going to take it and not shop it. I believe that’s what probably happened with Milwaukee,” he continued.
“They just jumped at it. There was never a chance to counter.”
Report said Turner was looking for a contract that is bigger than Naz Reid’s five-year, $125 million deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Turner’s official contract with the Bucks is worth $108.9 million for four years.
For more great Wisconsin sports content
Follow us @WiSportsHeroics for the latest and trending news about Packers, Brewers, Bucks, Marquette, and the rest of Wisconsin Sports. Stay updated by reading more of our Wisconsin Sports articles by clicking here and college basketball by clicking here!
