Pacers executive Kevin Pritchard was ‘shocked’ when he learned Myles Turner signed with Bucks

Pacers executive Kevin Pritchard was ‘shocked’ when he learned Myles Turner signed with Bucks

Many individuals would be doing everything imaginable to keep Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo happy in the only place he’s called home professionally. That’s exactly what Bucks general manager Jon Horst (thinks he) is doing, signing big man Myles Turner to a four-year, $107 million deal while waiving-and-stretching Damian Lillard.

It was a bizarre move and time will only tell how well it will actually age, but in Horst’s mind, he’s keeping Antetokounmpo happy and fielding a team worth competing for an NBA Title when the Eastern Conference is arguably as bad as it’s ever been.

It felt like a foregone conclusion that Turner would be returning to the East champs, but they didn’t meet the price tag that he was ultimately seeking. Pacers executive Kevin Pritchard spoke to reporters earlier this week, saying he was shocked that Turner ultimately left when he felt like both sides were negotiating in “good faith.”

“(Team owners) Herb Simon and Steven Rales and the Simon family were fully prepared to go deep into the tax, and we really wanted to do that,” Pritchard said, according to The Athletic’s James Boyd. “We were negotiating in good faith, but what happens in this league is sometimes you’re negotiating, but because a guy is (an) unrestricted (free agent), he has the right to say, ‘That’s the offer I want. I’m gonna take it.’

“I was shocked. If I’m being perfectly honest, again, I thought we were kind of going back and forth in an open way. We’ve done big deals with that agency, and they’re great guys, and we’ll be doing more business with them. But Myles must’ve heard something in that (Bucks offer) that said, ‘I’m gonna take it right now.’

Pritchard mentioned that he found out that Turner took another offer when he saw Shams Charania’s “BREAKING” tweet that infiltrates all of our electronic devices when earth-shattering news occurs.

“I saw Shams tweet it, and that’s how I knew that Myles was taking (the Bucks’ offer),” he said. “I think that there was a number he was trying to hit, and I think we were in the ballpark, but that’s my opinion. It must not have been for him.”

#Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard on Myles Turner signing with the Bucks:

"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." pic.twitter.com/Et8zTQUcHN

— WISH-TV News (@WISHNews8) July 7, 2025

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It was later revealed that the Pacers never offered more than $23 million per year; the longtime Pacers executive didn’t confirm those numbers, but one could assume that’s a reasonable ballpark estimate.

We will never know how much Tyrese Haliburton‘s injury affected how deep they were willing to dip into the tax; the original report of them wanting to exceed the tax was before Haliburton shattered his achilles. I’m sure it played a part, but we may never know how much influence it had.

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