Myles Turner Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacers Notes: Haliburton, Carlisle, Technicals, Turner

May 10th, 2025 at 6:15pm CST by Arthur Hill

Tyrese Haliburton, who didn’t speak with reporters after the Pacers‘ Game 3 loss to Cleveland on Friday, explained that it was a team decision to not make him available, writes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. Haliburton suffered through a subpar night, finishing with four points and five assists while shooting 2-of-8 from the field. Meeting with the media after Saturday’s film session, Haliburton stated that he’s always willing to be accountable no matter how he plays.

“I don’t run away from any questions. I went through harder times than last night,” he said. “Whatever you have to ask, I’ll be there. If there’s commentary around me not talking last night, people are more than allowed to approach me and have a conversation with me about it. I can’t control everything, but I don’t run from anything. If you have questions to ask, I’m right here.”

Dopirak notes that the Cavaliers made a concerted effort to control Haliburton after dropping the first two games of the series. Max Strus drew the main defensive assignment, but everyone who defended Haliburton face-guarded him and didn’t give him much room to operate. Cleveland also unveiled a 3-2 zone with Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley at the top to contest shooters. Haliburton had four of his shots blocked on Friday, with Mobley getting two of them.

“It’s an interesting dynamic, right?” Haliburton said. “A lot of teams don’t play a 3-2 and they don’t play with a seven-footer at the top. We just have to figure out how to go at it. We walked over some stuff and we saw some stuff through the course of the game that we feel comfortable with.”

There’s more from Indiana:

The Cavs made an early statement on Friday by scoring the first 11 points of the game and then finishing the first half on a 25-4 run, per Shakeia Taylor of The Athletic. Coach Rick Carlisle said his team has to do a better job of being ready to compete from the opening tip. “This is a very poor effort at the beginning of the game, through too many parts of the game. We all own it pretty clearly,” Carlisle said. “I didn’t have these guys ready for this, so I take responsibility for that. Ty had a rough game. I got to do more to get him involved, get him shots, get him in better positions to defend better, all those kinds of things.”
The Pacers were whistled for five technical fouls in the loss, but Carlisle refused to blame the referees for anything that happened, Taylor adds. “This wasn’t on the officials,” he said. “This is us not playing with enough presence, posture, disposition, whatever you want to call it. We’ve got to fix it. We’ve got 48 hours to do it. Playoff series are long, lots of ups and downs, lots of new storylines every game. From the standpoint of this game, the storyline is, we got to fight harder. We didn’t fight hard enough. They did. They outfought us.”
Myles Turner made a brief trip to the locker room after tweaking his ankle in the third quarter, but he was able to resume playing and expects to be ready for Sunday’s Game 4, Dopirak states in a separate story. “I’m fine,” Turner said. “Stuff happens. It’s the playoffs. It was a little tweak. You tape it up and you’re good to go.”

Pacers Notes: Haliburton, Celebration, Turner, Depth

May 9th, 2025 at 11:06am CST by Rory Maher

Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton expected to be fined for his celebration after making a game-winning three-pointer on Tuesday in Cleveland (YouTube link), but instead he received a warning from the NBA, reports Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.

“I’ve been waiting for that. I’ve been waiting for that, man,” Haliburton said after Game 2, when asked about the celebration and if he expected to hear from the league. “It was just right in the moment. It was right in the moment. Yeah, man, I’ve been waiting for that. I’ll take that fine, gladly.”

As Reynold notes, Haliburton anticipated a fine because the celebration he used has resulted in several financial penalties in the past for what the league has referred to as an “obscene gesture.”

Here’s more on the Pacers, who hold a 2-0 lead on the top-seeded Cavaliers heading into Friday’s Game 3:

Haliburton has been bothered by a sore left wrist recently, which is why he wore wore a wrap during Game 2 and at Thursday’s practice. However, he said he’ll be ready for tonight’s home game, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “I’m fine,” Haliburton said. “I’ll be fine for the game. I’m all good.”
In an interview with Mark Medina of RG.org, Haliburton’s trainer, Drew Hanlen, pushed back on the idea that his client is overrated — the 25-year-old point guard was voted the NBA’s most overrated player by an anonymous poll of 90 players last month. “We clearly know that Tyrese is not overrated,” Hanlen said. “He’s the best passer and play-maker in the NBA. He’s one of the best guards in the NBA. And he impacts winning at a high level. There is proof of that. He led his team to the Eastern Conference Finals last year. This year, they already have won a series and they’re up 2-0. One of the big things that we talk about with all my athletes is, ‘It doesn’t really matter what is said. It matters what is done.’ The proof is in the results. We always talk about results being the only thing that matters. He’s got a ton of great results. We don’t really care about an anonymous poll where no one has laid their opinions out on the line.”
Center Myles Turner is in his 10th season with Indiana and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. In an interesting article for the Players’ Tribune, Turner wrote about his NBA journey, including being involved in trade rumors for several years, and his relationships with head coach Rick Carlisle and Haliburton, among other topics.
While most NBA teams shorten their rotations in the playoffs, the opposite has been true of the Pacers, who have extended their rotation to 11 players instead of their typical 10, Dopirak writes for The Indianapolis Star. Indiana’s depth and up-tempo playing style has worn down its opponents late in games, leading to a couple of dramatic comebacks. “It’s playing to exhaustion,” backup guard T.J. McConnell said. “That tires other guys out. Our depth, if all of us are able to do that, it’s hard to play against us for 48 minutes. We press all year to get ready for a series like this in the playoffs. We just gotta continue to play extremely hard on both ends of the floor.”

Pelinka Confirms Upgrading Frontcourt Will Be High Priority For Lakers

May 2nd, 2025 at 6:18pm CST by Luke Adams

Following their trade of Anthony Davis and their decision to void a deadline deal for Mark Williams, the Lakers knew for months that a lack of frontcourt depth was a problem. That issue came to the forefront in Game 5 of their first-round series vs. Minnesota, as Rudy Gobert and the Timberwolves dominated Los Angeles on the boards and in the paint en route to the victory that ended the Lakers’ season.

On Thursday, in his end-of-season press conference, Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka acknowledged that the team has work to do up front this offseason, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin and Khobi Price of The Orange County Register.

“I think when you make a huge trade at the deadline where you trade your starting center for a point guard, of course that’s going to create significant issues with the roster, and we saw some of those play out,” Pelinka said. “We know this offseason, one of our primary goals is going to be to add size in our frontcourt at the center position. That’s going to be part of the equation. We know we have a lot of work to do on the roster, and it will look different next year, for sure.”

The Lakers thought they had acquired their center of the future on February 6 when they struck a deal to send Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, a future first-round pick, and a pick swap to Charlotte in exchange for Williams. Two days later, however, word broke that the Lakers were voiding the deal to concerns about Williams’ physical. Sources tell Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times that Los Angeles’ front office made that decision due to “knee and lower leg concerns.”

While NBA rules prevent Pelinka from discussing Williams specifically, he admitted that the 11th-hour nature of that deal left the Lakers in a tough spot — once the trade deadline had passed, the team only had the ability to void or move forward with the trade, as opposed to potentially renegotiating it or making a move for another center.

“It’s very clear and it was clear then … this roster needs more size and needs a center,” Pelinka said. “That’s a very clear and obvious byproduct of trading potentially the best big in the league to Dallas to get a point guard. Of course, that’s going to open up a huge hole. The trade deadline and the moments up to it don’t allow you the requisite time to explore every single unturned stone to add a big to our roster. We just didn’t have the time after the Luka trade. But now we do.”

New Lakers franchise player Luka Doncic thrived in Dallas playing alongside a pair of rim-running lob threats in Dereck Lively and Daniel Gafford. Pelinka confirmed that’s the sort of center L.A. will likely be seeking this summer, though he added that the club is willing to be flexible in the options it considers.

“I think in terms of center traits, it would be great to have a center that was a vertical threat, lob threat, and someone that could protect the interior defensively. I think those would be keys,” he said, according to Woike. “But there’s multiple different types of centers that can be very effective in the league. There’s also spread centers that can protect the rim. We’ll look at those as well. So I wouldn’t want to limit the archetype, but we know we need a big man.”

Given their salary cap situation, the Lakers may have a hard time finding a starting center in free agency, as Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic observe. Barring significant roster changes, the team will likely be limited to the taxpayer mid-level exception, which would almost certainly make it impossible to land a player like Myles Turner. That means L.A. is more likely to return to the trade market in search of an answer in the middle.

Nic Claxton of the Nets will likely be one name linked to the Lakers in the coming weeks and months, Woike writes. As Buha and Amick write, Jazz center Walker Kessler and Trail Blazers center Robert Williams are among the other possible trade targets who have been connected to the Lakers in the past year, while Clint Capela, Steven Adams, and Brook Lopez are among the veteran options headed for free agency who are unlikely to be as expensive as Turner.

During his final media session of the season, Pelinka made it clear that there are at least three players on the roster whom he has no interest in parting with in any deal for a center.

“The level of confidence in Austin Reaves, LeBron James and Luka Doncic is at an all-time high still,” he said, per McMenamin. “I think those three guys have incredible promise playing together. And we will collectively do a better job to make sure they’re surrounded with the right pieces to have ultimate success.”

James expressed some uncertainty about his future in the wake of Wednesday’s Game 5 loss, but the expectation at this point is that he’ll likely return to the Lakers for at least one more season. Pelinka told reporters on Thursday that he’s well aware LeBron will be monitoring the team’s roster moves as he weighs his own options.

“I think LeBron’s going to have high expectations for the roster,” Pelinka said. “And we’re going to do everything we can to meet those. But I also know that whatever it is, he’s still going to give his 110 percent every night, whether that’s scoring, assisting, defending, rebounding, leading. We know that’s always going to be 100 percent, and that never wavers.”

Pacers Will Look To Re-Sign Turner Without Going Into Tax

March 29th, 2025 at 10:59am CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers “absolutely” want to re-sign center Myles Turner when he reaches unrestricted free agency this summer, team sources tell Brian Windhorst of ESPN (Insider link).

However, as Windhorst details, the Pacers’ cap situation would complicate those negotiations. Indiana already has approximately $165MM in guaranteed salaries on its 2025/26 books for just 10 players, not including Turner. The luxury tax line projects to come in at just under $188MM and Indiana has no plans to surpass that threshold next season, sources tell ESPN.

Turner, meanwhile, is making $19.9MM in ’24/25 and will likely be seeking a raise on the heels of another strong season. The big man is averaging 15.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, and 1.6 assists in 30.6 minutes per game across 65 outings. He’s also making a career-best 40.2% of his three-pointers on a career-high 5.5 attempts per contest.

As ESPN’s Tim Bontemps observes in the same story, a lack of league-wide cap room could hurt Turner in negotiations, since there will be few rival suitors in position to make a competitive offer for the 29-year-old. Still, it’s hard to imagine Indiana bringing him back at a price that would allow the team to fill out its roster and remain out of tax territory without shedding at least a little salary elsewhere.

Windhorst and Bontemps don’t identify any specific players who might emerge as trade candidates for salary-dump purposes, but the team may soon have to make decisions on swingman Bennedict Mathurin ($9.2MM salary in 2025/26; extension-eligible this offseason), who has been in and out of the starting lineup, and forward Jarace Walker ($6.7MM salary in ’25/26; $8.5MM team option for ’26/27), who hasn’t been a consistent part of the rotation since January.

Forward Obi Toppin, who is owed about $45MM over the next three seasons beyond this one and is averaging fewer than 20 minutes per game, could also be an odd man out, though his longer-term deal might make it harder for the Pacers to maximize his value on the trade market.

NBA Fines Trendon Watford, Myles Turner, Andrew Nembhard

March 21st, 2025 at 10:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Nets forward Trendon Watford, Pacers center Myles Turner, and Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard were each fined by the NBA on Friday night for their roles in a Thursday altercation, according to a press release from the league (Twitter link).

Watford and Turner were hit with fines of $35K apiece, while Nembhard received a $20K penalty.

As we detailed earlier today, the altercation began as Bennedict Mathurin was driving to Brooklyn’s basket for a layup during the fourth quarter of Indiana’s victory. Watford and Nembhard engaged in a little pushing and shoving away from the play before Turner entered the fray and shoved Watford (YouTube link via ESPN). Both teams got involved at that point, with coaches and officials eventually separating the two sides.

Nembhard and Watford received double technical fouls for their exchange, as did Turner and Watford for theirs. As a result of being hit with two technicals, Watford was automatically ejected from the game.

According to the NBA, Nembhard and Watford were both responsible for initiating the skirmish, but Watford escalated it when he “delivered a right forearm to (Nembhard’s) chest region.” Turner was also considered to have escalated matters by shoving Watford.

Relative to their full-season salaries, the fines are more significant for Watford, who is earning $2.73MM, and Nembhard ($2.02MM) than they are for Turner, whose cap hit this season is $19.93MM.

Nets’ Watford Ejected Following Scuffle With Pacers

March 21st, 2025 at 11:10am CST by Rory Maher

Nets forward Trendon Watford was ejected in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s overtime loss to Indiana following a brief scuffle with Pacers players Andrew Nembhard and Myles Turner, as The Associated Press relays.

Prior to a driving basket by Bennedict Mathurin, Watford pushed Nembhard with one arm, then the two shoulder shoved each other with one arm apiece after the field goal (YouTube link via ESPN). Turner quickly entered the fray and shoved Watford, who responded by pushing back. Both teams entered the scuffle at that point, with coaches and officials eventually separating the two sides.

The video only shows the play and its aftermath, so it’s unclear who initially instigated the incident.

Nembhard and Watford received double technical fouls for their exchange, as did Turner and Watford for theirs. Watford was automatically ejected after being hit with two technicals.

For his part, Turner largely downplayed the incident after the game, saying he was just standing up for his teammate Nembhard, who is considerably smaller than Watford.

“We’re preparing for the playoffs,” Turner said. “You’re going to have moments like that in the playoffs. So to be battle tested, let it not be a surprise and be able to control your emotions when everything’s high – that’s an underrated thing in this league.”

Eastern Notes: Ball, Turner, Vucevic, Agbaji, Raptors

March 17th, 2025 at 9:44pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Hornets head coach Charles Lee heaps a lot of praise on his star player LaMelo Ball. However, there are areas where Ball can continue to grow, he told Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer.

“The goal for him is to continue to get better every day and I think try to work on his leadership,” Lee said. “But outside of the leadership, just being a great two-way player on both sides of the court. I think that goes into how he can continue to lead by example with his daily defensive preparation. I think that I’ve seen a lot more on-ball pressure, shift activity and multiple efforts from him over the last couple of weeks, which has been great for himself, for our team.

“And I think offensively he continues to take what the game is giving him, which was a big part of our success last game (in San Antonio). If they are going to put two on the ball, he’s trusting the pass, he’s trusting his teammates. If they don’t put two on the ball, it’s a great opportunity for him to be able to score. There’s so many elements that he can continue to add to his game, certainly with the ball. He’s getting better off the ball and that’s all we can ask of him, is to continue to compete and trust his teammates and keep building his leadership.”

In 44 starts, Ball is averaging a career-best 25.4 points, 7.2 assists and 5.1 rebounds. He’s considered a player to monitor going forward as a possible trade candidate, though at least one report suggested the Hornets have no interest in moving him.

We have more from the Eastern Conference:

The Pacers have struggled recently, dropping four of their last six games. Big man Myles Turner feels Indiana can still make a deep run in the postseason, as it did last spring. “We just have all the pieces we need. I think that at times, sometimes teams are like, ‘If only we had this, if only we had that.’ That’s not really the case for us,” Turner told Grant Afseth of Sportskeeda.com. “I think we have everything we need to compete. It’s just a matter of making all the pieces fit and just get hot at the right time.”
The Bulls currently hold the last play-in spot in the East. Center Nikola Vucevic, a prime trade candidate this offseason as his contract expires after next season, says he remains focused on the postseason. “I’m totally focused on being here and trying to help the team make this push,” Vucevic told Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times. “Regardless of what’s going on, I try to stay professional. I want to be a teammate that brings it every day, works hard. You don’t want to be the guy where everybody is locked in, and you’re not doing what you’re supposed to be doing. Totally locked in. Trying to find my rhythm with the [calf] injury. I think if we get healthy, we have a shot, and we’ll see where that takes us.”
Raptors wing Ochai Agbaji returned on Sunday after missing seven games due to an ankle sprain. He made a significant impact, Michael Grange of Sportnet notes. Agbaji finished with 19 points in a three-point loss to the Trail Blazers while displaying his usual defensive work ethic and athleticism. Toronto has already exercised its $6,383,525 option on Agbaji for next season. He’ll be eligible for a rookie scale extension beginning in July.
Any efforts the Raptors have made to go into tank mode are being neutralized by some of the other teams aiming for the lottery, Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes. Toronto won games against Washington, Philadelphia and Utah last week.

Pacers Notes: Turner, Mathurin, Nesmith, Okafor

February 21st, 2025 at 8:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Returning from a neck injury on Thursday and playing for the first time in two weeks, Pacers center Myles Turner looked fully healthy, logging a team-high 33 minutes as Indiana outscored Memphis by 22 points during his time on the court. Turner led the Pacers to an impressive victory over the Grizzlies by contributing 17 points, 10 rebounds, and seven blocked shots.

As Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star writes, Turner’s performance was a reminder of why the Pacers showed no interest in trading him at this month’s deadline despite his uncertain contract situation.

“He’s a very integral part of what we do and why our offense has been so good over these last couple years,” point guard Tyrese Haliburton said. “To get him back really helps.”

“He was huge around the basket,” head coach Rick Carlisle added. “The seven blocks were enormous in this game. And when he gets a double-double, we’re very, very difficult to beat.”

Turner won’t become extension-eligible prior to his unrestricted free agency this summer and there has been some outside speculation that the Pacers won’t be comfortable giving him a significant raise on his current $19.9MM salary. However, the fact that Indiana didn’t seriously entertain the idea of moving the big man by Feb. 6 suggests the club has a level of confidence in its ability to retain him beyond this season.

Here’s more on the Pacers:

Although Bennedict Mathurin played very well as a starter for most of the season, Carlisle believes having Aaron Nesmith in the starting five and Mathurin coming off the bench makes the most sense for the team as a whole, Dopirak writes for The Indianapolis Star. “It doesn’t matter who starts,” Carlisle said earlier this week. “What matters is we’re doing what’s best for the team. We have great guys. We communicate very carefully with them about these decisions. … I don’t like a lot of upheaval. I don’t like lineup changes, all that kinda stuff. But when something like this comes along and there’s so much evidence that it’s the right thing for so many reasons analytically and probably with the eye test too, you’ve gotta take note.”
As Dopirak points out, with Mathurin eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2025 offseason, it’s fair to wonder how playing with the second unit – or bouncing back and forth between starter and bench roles – will affect his development and his value. For his part, the 22-year-old doesn’t sound worried about it. “For me, it’s the same thing whether I start or not or come off the bench,” Mathurin said. “I still have the same mentality. At the end of the day, we have 29 games left. Everybody’s trying to win and trying go to the playoffs and have a deep run again. I feel like everybody has the same mindset and that’s pretty much what we need.”
Jahlil Okafor‘s 10-day contract with the Pacers expired on Thursday night. A source tells Dopirak that the team doesn’t have any plans to re-sign Okafor or fill his roster spot with a new player right away. The former No. 3 overall pick, who would be eligible for a second 10-day deal with Indiana, will return to the club’s G League affiliate for the time being, Dopirak adds.

And-Ones: 2025 FAs, College Jobs, MCW, WNBA, More

February 20th, 2025 at 7:31am CST by Luke Adams

A series of contract extensions have depleted the star-level talent in the NBA’s 2025 free agent class, but there will still be some notable names to watch this summer, as Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report and ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link) detail.

Both Pincus and Marks have longtime NBA stars LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden atop their lists of 2025 free agents, with Marks positing that no player will have more leverage this offseason than Irving, given how badly the Mavericks need to retain the veteran point guard following the trade of Luka Doncic.

After James, Irving, and Harden, who have combined for 41 career All-Star appearances, the next tier of free agents consists of players like Myles Turner, Fred VanVleet, Jonathan Kuminga, Josh Giddey, and Timberwolves power forwards Julius Randle and Naz Reid. Interestingly, Pincus has Reid ranked ahead of the three-time All-Star he backs up, placing Reid at No. 5 and Randle at No. 7 in his early FA rankings.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

As is typical at this time of year, a number of NBA coaches and executives are receiving interest for jobs at the college basketball level, notes Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link). Fischer mentions Hornets executive Buzz Peterson and veteran player agent Jim Tanner as possible candidates for UNC’s general manager job and says Heat assistant Chris Quinn, Suns assistant David Fizdale, and Bucks assistant Dave Joerger are among the names to watch for the University of Miami’s head coaching position. Fischer adds that Kings assistant Luke Loucks has been linked to Florida State’s head coaching opening.
Former NBA Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams is involved in a bid to bring an WNBA expansion franchise to Boston, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. With expansion teams lined up for San Francisco, Portland, Toronto, and Cleveland, the WNBA will have 16 clubs by 2028, so it’s unclear whether or not the league will be looking to expand beyond that number right away.
Passing along the results of a player poll from All-Star weekend, Joe Vardon of The Athletic notes that the 14 respondents were unanimously against the idea of 10-minute quarters floated last month by commissioner Adam Silver. However, 12 of those 14 players liked the new All-Star tournament format.
The Lakers‘ and Pistons‘ G League affiliates completed a trade on Wednesday, with the South Bay Lakers acquiring forward Cole Swider from the Motor City Cruise in exchange for Chris Silva‘s returning rights and a 2025 first-round pick, per a press release. Silva is currently playing overseas, but Swider has been active in the G League and will begin suiting up for South Bay.

Injury Notes: Edwards, Knicks, Turner, Wade, Thomas, LaMelo

February 19th, 2025 at 2:42pm CST by Luke Adams

Sixers rookie Justin Edwards sprained his left ankle during a post-All-Star practice this week, according to Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports (Twitter link).

The injury will cost Edwards at least a couple games. According to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link), the 21-year-old has been ruled out for Thursday vs. Boston and Saturday vs. Brooklyn. The plan is for him to be reevaluated early next week.

The Sixers could be shorthanded in the backcourt coming out of the All-Star break. Kyle Lowry (hip) and Eric Gordon (wrist), who each missed the last two games prior to the break, didn’t participate in practice on Tuesday, Bodner notes. Lonnie Walker‘s reported deal with the team also isn’t yet official.

Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:

Knicks center Mitchell Robinson and forward OG Anunoby both fully participated in Wednesday’s practice, which included a 5-on-5 scrimmage, per head coach Tom Thibodeau (Twitter link via Ian Begley of SNY.tv). It was the first time this season that Robinson has advanced to 5-on-5 with contact. While the big man has yet to make his season debut following offseason ankle surgery, Anunoby has been out for five games due to a right foot sprain.
Myles Turner missed the Pacers‘ last three games before the All-Star break due to a cervical strain, but is expected to be available on Thursday vs. Memphis, writes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star.
Cavaliers forward Dean Wade appears likely to sit out on Thursday during the first half of a back-to-back set before making his return on Friday, tweets Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Wade has been on the shelf since January 24 due to a right knee bone bruise.
Nets guard Cam Thomas will take part in his first 5-on-5 scrimmage on Thursday since going down with a hamstring strain on January 2, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link).
Hornets star LaMelo Ball is listed as probable to play on Wednesday vs. the Lakers (Twitter link), so it appears the right ankle sprain he sustained on February 10 wasn’t a significant one.