The first domino fell, the Bucks subscribe Lillard to sign Turner to change the league

Just yesterday, the Milwaukee Bucks made an operation that shocked the entire league. According to ESPN reporter Shams, the team signed former Indiana Pacers center Miles Turner on a four-year contract worth $107 million.

You should know that the Bucks did not originally have the salary space to sign Turner. They made room to sign the hot center in the free market by cutting Damian Lillard, a future Hall of Fame player who was selected for the All-Star for two seasons with the Bucks and had more than $110 million in contracts.

Meanwhile, the Pacers lost the longest player in the team. This offseason, they just reached the first finals in nearly 25 years of team history. The team has relied on Turner to take the inside line in the past two seasons, and was able to eliminate the Bucks in the first round of the playoffs in a row.

Before the start of the finals tiebreak, the Pacers were originally considered the biggest favorite in the East in the new season. But with Tyrese Halliburton's Achilles tendon tear and Turner's departure, the Pacers' competitiveness has taken a sharp turn. The Eastern Conference was led by the Cavaliers and the Knicks, and a series of active operations during the offseason in the Hawks and Magic also made the situation in the division more confusing.

The Bucks believe that Turner's joining can help the team re-enter the championship group. They are obviously still sprinting around Antetokounmpo's peak period, and this shocking operation will undoubtedly have a chain reaction to the entire league.

Why do the tarts operate like this?

Antesco's existence makes the Bucks bear the pressure to compete for the championship every year. But they have all been eliminated in the first round in the past three seasons and were easily eliminated by the Pacers in just five games last season.

What's worse is that Lillard tore his Achilles tendon in that round of the series, causing the team not only to lose a backcourt core with an average of 25 points, 4.7 rebounds and 7 assists per game, and a 38% three-point shooting percentage, but also left a "big hole" with an annual salary of $54 million.

In view of the fact that Antetokounmpo has publicly expressed his desire to win the championship again on many occasions, and this summer there have been reports that he is closely monitoring the team's operations to decide whether to stay behind, the Bucks obviously cannot hold on. Especially when center Brooke Lopez has switched to the Clippers, they urgently need to find a suitable inside partner for Antetokounmpo.

So, the Bucks not only introduced Turner, who is similar to Daluo and eight years younger, but also made a very controversial decision - to cut off and extend the remaining $112 million contract to pay Lillard. This "extended clause" operation allows the huge contract to continue to occupy the team's salary space for the next five years in the form of an average annual payment of $22 million.

This means that the Bucks actually cost more than $50 million a year in order to own Turner. There have been many executives in the league who say this bluntly - this is a "reckless" and "only make the bad situation worse".

Although Turner is indeed a seven-foot center with excellent offense and defense, with a basket protection and three-point ability, his annual salary is almost three times that of Big Lopez, and the data presented by the two are almost the same. At the same time, the Bucks have not yet found a player who can replace Lillard's firepower. Considering that they were only ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference last season, such adventures are likely to bring greater risks.

Pacers' losses and turnarounds

Turner is the starting center of the Pacers and the heart of the locker room. The team had sent out several signals that they wanted to renew his contract, but it also meant they had to pay a luxury tax - something the Pacers hadn't done in the past 20 years.

Although they have expressed their willingness to pay taxes, other teams have always suspected that it was just a bluff. Until the Bucks freed up cap space and offered a generous offer, the Pacers could no longer keep Turner. Just a week ago, the Timberwolves just renewed substitute center Naz Reed with a $125 million contract, further boosting Turner's market expectations.

Although Turner performed well in the regular season, he struggled in the late playoffs, especially in the finals facing the Thunder - his shooting percentage was only 37.7%, and his three-point line was as low as 21.4%. Even so, his unique skill set is still something that the Pacers currently lacks. Many members of the alliance were puzzled, and an assistant coach even said directly: "Why not renew his contract?"

However, in the long run, this may help Pacers rebuild in the future. With Halliburton expected to miss the entire new season and they have their own first-round pick in 2026, once their record declines, they will have a chance to get a high-couple rookie with great potential.

At present, the Pacers have offered qualifications for Isaiah Jackson, and he is likely to become a member of the center rotation. But there are few center players in the free agent market who can replace Turner now, and Ayton, the "big card", has agreed to join the Lakers. It is worth mentioning that the Pacers actually made a first offer for Ayton in 2022, but they were returned to Phoenix by the Sun match contract.

Antesco's future trend

Since 2020, the outside world has been paying attention to whether Antesco will choose to leave Milwaukee. That year, the Bucks were convinced by Holiday through the trade to stay, and finally realized their dream of winning the championship in 2021; three years later, the Bucks exchanged Holiday for All-Star point guard Lillard; now, they bet on the future to sign Turner for the third time, and continue to equip Antetokounmpo with suitable partners.

Turner can both open up the space and protect the basket. Such functional attributes are the ideal template for coexisting with Antetokounmpo. Antetokounmpo's current contract has three years left, with annual salary of 54.1 million, 58.4 million and 62.7 million respectively.

When Lillard was absent due to injury at the end of the season, Antetokounmpo re-acted as the "ball forward", averaging 33.4 points, 15.6 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game, with a shooting percentage of up to 60%.. This role change also gave him greater motivation to shoulder the organization's responsibility.

"I always felt that that would be the final stage of my career," Antetokounmpo said after being eliminated in the playoffs. "Become a player who can organize offense and direct the team like a ball-handling forward." If you can stay healthy in the new season and lead the Bucks to a strong season, Antetokounmpo is likely to hit the MVP again. Lillard ended his Bucks' career, and Lillard's two years of playing for the Bucks did not meet expectations. Although his double-star combination with Antetokounmpo achieved a record of 73 wins and 43 losses in the regular season, the two only played three games side by side, and eventually ended with Lillard's Achilles tendon tear.

However, this "atypical" layoff may be the best ending for him - Lillard will receive all the remaining salary, and can concentrate on recuperating his injuries for 12-18 months, and re-select the next destination as a complete free agent. This will be the first time in his career that he has made a completely independent decision.

Although Lillard has become a free agent, it is not very meaningful to sign at this stage, because no team can offer him a better and higher salary with "Bird Right". Therefore, Lillard will most likely choose to recover with peace of mind and wait for an opportunity to act.

The impact of Turner's signing on other teams

During the finals, the Pacers quietly traded this year's No. 23 draw to the Pelicans for their own first round pick in 2026. At that time, the Pacers were still fighting in the finals, and the outside world did not care too much about this transaction. But with Halliburton's injury retreat and Turner left the team, the Pacers' first-round pick in 2026 now looks like they're worth soaring.

In contrast, the Pelicans suffered a huge loss. They used the No. 23 pick + a future unprotected first round in the draft, and exchanged the Hawks for the No. 13 pick to select rookie Derek Quinn. If they don't make this deal, the Pelicans will not only have their own first-round pick (most likely to be a lottery pick) in 2026, but also have a potential high-ranking first-round pick that originally belonged to the Pacers.

For Pelicans fans, this may be a rather "bad" result.

(NBA)