Dallas, Texas, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) celebrates with Milwaukee Bucks center Myles Turner (3) during the third quarter against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
The Milwaukee Bucks made a couple of bold, risky decisions in the 2025 offseason, and it’s safe to say they didn’t work out. In an attempt to appease Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks waived Damian Lillard and stretched the remaining $113 million on his contract to sign Myles Turner in free agency.
The gamble didn’t pay off, with Antetokounmpo being traded to the Miami Heat this offseason. As if that wasn’t bad enough, ESPN’s Ben Golliver reported that the Bucks are now stuck with Turner.
“They haven’t yet found a taker for Myles Turner, who was signed to a four-year, $107 million contract last summer in a failed attempt to appease Antetokounmpo,” Golliver stated.
It would be an understatement to say Turner didn’t have the kind of impact the Bucks hoped for after they gave him that four-year, $107 million deal. The 30-year-old ended up averaging just 11.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.7 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game in 2025-26. That’s a career-low for rebounds, and he only averaged fewer points than that as a rookie.
It’s no surprise then that Turner isn’t exactly a hot commodity in the trade market. He also has a 15% trade kicker, which makes him an even less desired commodity in the market.
Now, Turner, of course, spent the first 10 seasons of his career with the Indiana Pacers after they selected him with the No. 11 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. Could the Pacers be interested in a reunion? Absolutely not, for multiple reasons.
The Pacers claimed to be blindsided by Turner’s decision to sign with the Bucks. They wanted to keep him and weren’t all too pleased to see him go.
Turner then proceeded to do a fabulous job of burning bridges. He fired plenty of shots at Pacers fans and even booed them on his return to Indiana with the Bucks. There is no going back now, and they have also replaced him with a better player.
The Pacers acquired Ivica Zubac from the Los Angeles Clippers in February 2026. Zubac made the All-Defensive Second Team in 2025 and is most certainly an upgrade.
So if not the Pacers, then who? Well, the Los Angeles Lakers were linked to Turner for years. Could the Lakers come in? The answer once again is absolutely not. The Lakers have addressed that center position by acquiring Walker Kessler this summer. They are not going to be in the market for a starting big for a very long time.
There are now only a few teams you could argue where Turner would be an upgrade at the center spot. The Clippers, Brooklyn Nets, and maybe the Toronto Raptors could do with him, but that contract isn’t one you’d want to take on.
So, there is a good chance Turner remains in Milwaukee for the foreseeable future. The Bucks are anyway in rebuild mode, so he isn’t crippling them in any way. That’s a rare positive you can point to.
Getting back to the negatives, dumping Lillard might end up being another mistake in hindsight. The nine-time All-Star had torn his Achilles in the 2025 playoffs, and the Bucks cut ties because they were trying to win now to appease Antetokounmpo.
There were also doubts about how well Lillard would recover from an injury like that, given he’d be 36 when he returned. Well, he has been shooting lights out in practice and appears ready for next season with the Portland Trail Blazers.
So, that 2025 offseason might live long in the memory of Bucks fans, just for the wrong reasons.