“(Owners) Herb Simon and Steven Rales and the Simon family were fully prepared to go deep into the tax to keep him and we really wanted to do that. Again, we were in good faith negotiations. It was a little surprising how Milwaukee created that,” said Pacers’ president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard recently. The last few hours have seen several trades and team shifts taking place, but none of the recent ones would top that of Myles Turner, who has now gone to the Milwaukee Bucks. The longest-tenured player on the current Pacers roster, Turner had entered free agency this offseason in the hopes of getting a better deal. From what Pritchard said, the player blindsided them by taking the Bucks’ offer. However, while one coach is highlighting this ‘bad faith’, another has already said her goodbye to Turner.

A few hours ago, Indiana Pacers assistant coach Jenny Boucek took to her official Instagram account to share a story with her 14,500+ followers. She showcased the official post from the Indiana Pacers bidding farewell to Myles Turner on her story. Boucek also added a caption that read “This never gets easier…. 😔Thank you, Myles. I’m so inspired by you on and off the court. You are a champion.”

Jenny Boucek joined the Indiana Pacers back in 2021 after Myles Turner had already spent 6 years both with the team and in the league. Over the next 4 years, the assistant coach made her mark as one of four female assistants in the NBA currently, guiding Rick Carlisle navigate the team through various highs and lows. The efforts of the coaching staff certainly played a major role in getting the Indiana Pacers to the NBA Finals, recently, for the first time in 25 years.

If Jenny Boucek and Myles Turner shared a close bond, it wasn’t something they chose to highlight publicly. However, the 2x NBA Blocks Leader often gave his flowers to the assistant coach. Back in March 2024, Turner discussed Boucek by saying “Just intense passion, man. Jenny, ever since I’ve known her, everything she does is with a lot of passion, a lot of care. She has a humane side to what she does, but she also has a switch that she can flip as well. I just respect her being in a male-dominated industry, being able to have opinions that actually help, that are facts, and actually grow our game and whatnot. I think that she makes the game a little bit easier for guys who are coming in, especially younger guys. So, she definitely serves a role and shows a purpose.”

Now, the assistant coach reciprocated the same respect she got from the player.

Kevin Pritchard was ‘shocked’ at Myles Turner’s trade: “I saw Shams tweet it”

Throughout Turner’s 10 years with the Indiana Pacers, he was frequently the subject of trade rumors. Ironically, those talks reportedly subsided a bit this year, even as his contract was coming to an end. By entering free agency, Turner would have hoped for a substantial raise on the 2-year (s), $40.9 million contract he held. That is what the Indiana Pacers front office was expecting, which is why the sudden shift to the Milwaukee Bucks left many confused.

“We did not see Milwaukee as that team. We would have been open on a sign-and-trade because it’s sort of mutually beneficial, but we didn’t get to that point, unfortunately,” said Pritchard. “I saw Shams tweet it, and that’s how I knew that Myles was taken away.”

Pritchard hadn’t gone into specifics in terms of the contract offers. However, IndyStar’s Gregg Doyel had reported earlier that the Pacers’ best offer was around four years, $95 million. Several issues, including Tyrese Haliburton’s Achilles Injury, and going more above the salary tax cap, reportedly prevented the team from going further. Despite that, negotiations were still going on.

“We were negotiating in good faith. But what happens in this league is sometimes, you’re negotiating, but because a guy is unrestricted, he has the right to say, ‘That’s the offer I want, I’m going to take it, and that’s best for my family’” Pritchard added.

For the first time since joining the NBA, Myles Turner will be playing for a different team, and with a 4-year, $107 million contract to keep him company. As both the Bucks and Pacers look to the future, it will be interesting to see what plan the head coach and the assistant coach will have for Turner in the coming games.