Things are going to be very different next season for a pair of bitter rivals that met up in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
The Bucks have waived Damian Lillard and stretched the remaining $113 million left on his salary over five seasons, and Milwaukee is using that salary space to pluck former Indiana Pacer Myles Turner on a four-year, $107 million contract, a person with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.
The person spoke under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.
ESPN was first to report the news.
Here are grades for Milwaukee’s decision to sign Myles Turner and waive Damian Lillard.
Milwaukee Bucks
Lillard, who turns 36 on Tuesday, July 15, is expected to miss next season with a torn Achilles. Given the assets Milwaukee gave up to land Lillard in a September 2023 trade, waiving him renders the decision to acquire him a failure.
Adding Turner does mitigate the loss of Brook Lopez, who reportedly signed with the Clippers, but Milwaukee’s offseason is all about Giannis Antetokounmpo and keeping him happy with the team’s direction. According to NBA insider Chris Haynes, Antetokounmpo was not pleased with the way the Bucks handled Lillard’s departure.
The Bucks may have an uphill battle to keep Antetokounmpo happy.
Grade: C+
Indiana Pacers
While Turner struggled with his shot in the NBA Finals, he was the longest-tenured Pacer, serving 10 seasons with the team. Indiana loses a stretch center with range who shot 39.6% this season from 3-point range. He’s a plus defender and was a leader for Indy.
While the Pacers clearly appreciated Turner, they also avoided onerous luxury tax payments by re-signing him. And with Tyrese Haliburton likely to miss most, if not all of the 2025-26 season, the Pacers seemingly will take next season to regroup. In any case, Isaiah Jackson and Tony Bradley — the most likely Turner replacements — are significant downgrades.
All the worse that it’s the rival Bucks.
Grade: C
Myles Turner
Once he gets past the challenges of leaving Indy, Turner, 29, is get his well-deserved payday and gets to play alongside Antetokounmpo — for now.
Grade: A-
Damian Lillard
Lillard must now get healthy and convince a team to take a flyer on him, but he gets to choose his destination and collect his guaranteed salary.
Grade: B+
