“Losing Myles Turner is a significant loss for our team. I mean, the guy’s been a terrific player,” said Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle in a recent statement. For the first time in 10 years, the Indiana Pacers will have a new starting center after the player they relied on took advantage of the Milwaukee Bucks creating space after waiving Damian Lillard and headed North on a 4-year, $108.9 million deal. From the way that Pacers GM Chad Buchanan said, “Myles obviously is all he knows the Pacers, and he’s a big part of our identity”, you wouldn’t think that the player would choose to leave so easily. While he did, he also proved what the Pacers meant to him in a recent statement.

Less than an hour ago, Myles Turner took to his official Instagram account to share a post with his 413,000+ followers. The same contained a series of slides, all containing a continuation of a long farewell message from the player’s side. In the same vein, Turner admitted that “Throughout the years I put my personal pride & ego to the side and sacrificed many parts of myself and my livelihood for the betterment of this organization”.

He admitted never taking the easy way out and grinding through the effort. In the end, he admitted, “It was all so worth it”. Turner also revealed that “Saying goodbye is never easy, especially so abruptly”. The player might not have chosen to stay, but he continues holding the Indiana Pacers as part of his identity, even with another team. “I mean it when I say the 317 will always be home. And I’ve been proud to call myself a Hoosier! I hope you continue to embrace me as much as I’ve always embraced you! See you soon,” he wrote.

Over the course of a decade, Myles Turner averaged a significant stat throughout 642 games, starting in a total of 609 of them. In his last season with the Indiana Pacers, he averaged 15.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks in a total of 72 appearances. His three-point percentage (39.6) was also a career high. Throughout his run with the team, the player couldn’t often avoid the speculation that he would be sent to another team. Trade rumors about him used to run rampant.

Turner was quite aware of them, which is why, back in February, he joked on social media about making it through the 2025 trade deadline unscathed by putting up the “Survivor Outwit, Outplay, Outlast” message. Amidst these rumors, Chad Buchanan, who became the Pacers’ GM in June 2017, used to often put down the claim that they would cut ties with the Center.

In the GM’s own words, stated back in February, “We’ve all seen how Myles fits with this group. His uniqueness in being able to stretch the floor, which gives space to everybody, especially Tyrese (Haliburton) and Pascal (Siakam). It’s hard to find a guy who fits better than Myles. That’s why we’ve kept him for so long. We value what he does and who he is as a human being.”

The need to keep Turner was there, but the Pacers also wanted to continue their theme of staying under the luxury tax, having not exceeded the tax line in 2005. In light of this, the Center took a tough decision and bid adieu. The move by Myles Turner was a sudden one for several team insiders, and not just Chad Buchanan. While some took it sportingly, others couldn’t help but just focus on their shock over the news.

Myles Turner’s graceful exit reveals deeper fractures

Jenny Boucek, one of only four female assistant coaches in the NBA, has been a key figure in Rick Carlisle’s staff since joining the team back in 2021. Her and Myles Turner’s bond wasn’t something that was highlighted to the public much. However, the player held the assistant coach in high regard, going so far as to state once that “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”. Therefore, when the time came to reciprocate, Boucek didn’t hold back.

A few days ago, the assistant coach reacted to Myles Turner’s exit by taking to her official Instagram account to share a story with her 14,500+ followers. She highlighted the Pacers’ official post bidding farewell to Myles Turner on her story. Boucek 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.”

Boucek’s tribute highlighted a feeling of admiration and appreciation. However, not everyone felt it. Kevin Pritchard, the president of basketball operations for the Indiana Pacers, wrote, “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. I saw Shams tweet it, and that’s how I knew that Myles was taken away.”

Of course, no one would appreciate it if they were in the middle of negotiations and the opposite party took another deal without informing them. That is a risk in this business, as Pritchard added, “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’”.

How do you think Myles Turner will adjust with the Milwaukee Bucks? Will he have the same rapport with the people there as he did with the ones at Indiana? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.