The Los Angeles Lakers have made a commitment to "turn over every stone" in the pursuit of a new starting center. Unfortunately, the Lakers have missed out on the biggest names on the open market during the early stages of free agency.
No failed pursuit stings quite as painfully as that of former Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner, who signed for far less than some had anticipated.
Turner, 29, is freshly removed from helping the Indiana Pacers go as far as Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals. As such, many anticipated that the veteran big man would either return to Indiana or sign a lucrative deal to go to a team that's one player away from contending.
Instead, Shams Charania of ESPN reported that the Milwaukee Bucks have signed Turner to a four-year, $107 million contract.
BREAKING: Free agent center Myles Turner has agreed to a four-year, $107 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, plus a player option for year four in 2028-29 and a full 15% trade kicker, sources tell ESPN. Stunner. pic.twitter.com/MlDkZusVOv
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2025
That relatively low annual salary should have Lakers fans questioning why Rob Pelinka and the Lakers were unable to bring Turner to Los Angeles.
Myles Turner signs for less than $27 million per season
A hair under $27 million per season is by no means a small figure, but perspective is crucial on that front. It's less than $9 million more than what Rui Hachimura will make in 2025-26, which is contextualized by the fact that said contract was signed in 2023.
This is by no means a comparison between two players, but instead a dose of context for how attainable Turner was from a financial perspective.
Turner is a 10-year veteran who thus qualified for a maximum salary of $232,743,735 over four years with a new team. In other words: The Bucks signed Turner for less than half of the maximum salary, which is quite a deal for a player who has started all but 33 games over the past decade.
Turner is also fresh off of starting every game during the Pacers' run to the 2025 NBA Finals—just one year after he started every outing during Indiana's trip to the 2024 Conference Finals.
Despite all of that information, the Bucks signed Turner for a relatively team-friendly figure. It's an amount the Lakers would've been able to pay had they executed a sign-and-trade or even simply looked for paths to create additional flexibility.
Unfortunately, the prototypical 3-and-D big who ranked in the top five in the NBA in points via the pick and roll in 2024-25 has signed elsewhere.
Giannis Antetokounmpo played an active role in recruiting Turner, which admittedly plays a factor in this discussion. As the Lakers look for a starting center who can anchor the defense and thrive on offense alongside Luka Doncic, however, Turner was both affordable and potentially available.
One simply can't help but wish the Lakers could've brought in a center of his caliber on a contract that has the potential to age gracefully.