Central Notes: Ivey, Bulls, Turner
Pistons guard Jaden Ivey had a very promising 2024/25 season — for the 30 games he was on the floor, at least.
Keith Langlois of Pistons.com reviews Ivey’s third pro season and considers what’s next for him, noting that the third-year pro evolved as a jump shooter and a creator under new head coach J.B. Bickerstaff.
Across the aforementioned 30 healthy bouts, Ivey averaged 17.6 points, 4.1 boards and 4.0 dimes per game ahead of becoming extension-eligible this summer. Bickerstaff has been an ardent fan of Ivey’s play, according to Langlois, who writes that the 6’4″ guard can thrive both off-ball alongside All-NBA point guard Cade Cunningham and as a lead ball handler without Cunningham.
Langlois observes that Ivey’s role leading bench units could hinge on what happens with reserve guard Dennis Schröder in free agency.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- The Bulls are potentially interested in selecting BYU guard Egor Demin with the No. 12 pick in this month’s draft — if he’s still available at that point, as Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times reiterates in a story breaking down four potential lottery targets for the team. Cowley, who previously reported Chicago’s potential interest in Demin, also takes a closer look at Derik Queen, Collin Murray-Boyles, and Asa Newell.
- The Pacers, now back in the NBA Finals for the first time in 25 years, face a major decision this summer when it comes to the future of free agent center Myles Turner, per Peter Botte of The New York Post. While Indiana is considered likely to retain the 6’11” big man, he could become a hot commodity this summer. A unique three-and-D center, the Texas alum has been a critical contributor to his team’s two straight Eastern Conference Finals runs, and will prove integral if it hopes to fend off Oklahoma City in the Finals. Indiana holds a $2.9MM option on his backup, Tony Bradley, while third-stringer Thomas Bryant will also hit unrestricted free agency.
- In case you missed it, Pacers forward Pascal Siakam was honored as the club’s Eastern Conference Finals MVP for his performance against New York, in a narrow 5-4 vote.
Pistons Have Interest In Naz Reid, Myles Turner
The Pistons are “known to covet” a big man who can space the floor, according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line, who reports in his latest Substack article (subscription required) that the team is said to have interest in both Naz Reid and Myles Turner.
Reid followed up his Sixth Man of the Year campaign in 2023/24 with another strong season for the Timberwolves in ’24/25, averaging 14.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 27.5 minutes per game across 80 outings (17 starts). He has made 39.5% of 5.4 three-point attempts per game over the past two seasons.
Turner, who was drafted 11th overall by the Pacers in 2015 and has been the team’s starting center for the last decade, averaged 15.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks in 30.2 minutes per contest across 72 games this season. The 29-year-old knocked down a career-high 39.6% of 5.5 three-pointers per night and has played a key role in getting the Pacers within one game of an NBA Finals appearance.
It remains to be seen whether the Pistons have a viable chance to land either player, Stein acknowledges.
Reid holds a $15MM player option for next season and the Timberwolves have made it known they’d have strong interest in working out a new deal with him if he declines that option, Stein writes.
As for Turner, multiple reports have indicated that Indiana is well positioned to re-sign the longtime Pacer in unrestricted free agency this summer, and Stein confirms that the team has conveyed a willingness to go into the tax next season to keep its roster together.
As we detailed earlier this week, the Pistons could potentially create nearly $17MM in cap room without making any cost-cutting moves, but it would mean renouncing their rights to key free agents like Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Dennis Schröder. If the club operates over the cap, it could offer the full mid-level exception, worth a projected $14.1MM, to a free agent, but wouldn’t be able to exceed that figure without a sign-and-trade.
Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart, and Paul Reed handled big-man duties for Detroit in 2024/25. While that trio was effective, none of the three is a threat from beyond the arc — they made a combined 25 three-pointers on the season, with Duren not attempting a single one.
Pacers Notes: McConnell, Haliburton, Tax, Turner, Bradley, Sheppard
T.J. McConnell continues to be an annoying pest against the Knicks during the postseason. McConnell has scored 10 points in each of the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals despite limited playing time.
“It’s kind of defined T.J.’s 10-year career in the NBA,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said, per Peter Botte of the New York Post. “He’s done a great job throughout the playoffs of playing his game and not allowing some difficult situations to deter him from keeping his focus on what he needs to do to help the team. So I thought he was a real key [to the first two games], and we’re gonna need the same effort from everybody when we go home.”
McConnell averaged 11.9 points and 6.0 assists in 20.6 minutes per game in last season’s conference semifinals series against New York. Game 3 is tonight.
We have more on the Pacers:
- Tyrese Haliburton enjoys not only being a team leader and clutch performer but also an agitator, Grant Afseth writes in a column for Ballislife.com. Afseth notes that Haliburton, who was voted in an anonymous players’ poll early this season as the league’s most overrated player, is averaging 25.0 points, 8.3 assists, and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 52.9 percent from the floor in closeout games during his career.
- Indiana’s success has led the team’s ownership group to embrace the possibility of paying luxury taxes, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reports. Ownership has indicated a willingness to increase spending next season and potentially pay a luxury tax fee to keep this core together. That’s a signal that the Pacers will do all they can to re-sign big man Myles Turner, who is headed to unrestricted free agency. Internally, they’re hoping to bring back Turner while retaining their impressive depth.
- Tony Bradley, who logged just 113 total minutes during the regular season, grabbed a couple of crucial rebounds in an eight-minute stint in Game 2. “Tony Bradley hasn’t played in the series, but he’s one of our better rebounders,” Carlisle said “We elected to go with him to spell Myles a little bit. We’re a team that needs everybody. That’s how we’ve got to play.” Indiana holds a $2.94MM club option on Bradley’s contract for next season.
- Ben Sheppard has played 20 turnover-free minutes in the series. “Another guy who can bring a different dimension,” Carlisle said during Sunday’s pregame press conference, per Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter link). “He always goes hard … From a game plan standpoint, he always stays with what we’re trying to do.”
Pacers Notes: Siakam, Turner, Sheppard, Contending
Pacers star Pascal Siakam delivered on the biggest stage on Friday night, surging to a playoff career-high 39 points, five rebounds and three assists in a Game 2 win in the Eastern Conference Finals over the Knicks, Shakeia Taylor of The Athletic observes.
“Whatever was out there, I just took it,” Siakam said. “I think what makes us special as a team is just that we have different weapons and we’re not consumed with who’s going to do what. You just go into the game, and however the game presents itself, that’s how we go and take it and do it our way. And it doesn’t matter who scores.”
The Pacers acquired Siakam at last year’s trade deadline, a move that paid immediate dividends with Indiana’s back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals appearances since his arrival.
“That’s why we brought him here. It’s what he’s here to do,” Haliburton said. “He can get a bucket in so many different ways. He started the game high, and we just kept feeding him. I thought he did a great job of making big shot after big shot after big shot, killing momentum.”
We have more from the Pacers:
- Myles Turner again delivered on the biggest stage, scoring 13 points in the fourth quarter and keying the Pacers’ run that pushed them over the top, Dustin Dopirak of IndyStar writes. Dopirak also points out within the same story that Siakam’s Game 2 performance is even more impressive considering he was being primarily guarded by OG Anunoby.
- Ben Sheppard has been a key reserve for the Pacers in the playoffs. Though he hasn’t played much, coach Rick Carlisle is trusting him to play in big moments and give the starters some rest, Dopirak writes. “He’s a guy that is very dependable,” Carlisle said. “He goes in and you know you’re going to get hard play, running, real effort, attention to detail. He plays with a pace and an energy that’s healthy to our team.“
- The Pacers continue to prove they belong on this stage, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated writes. “What’s really special about our group is we have so many different people contributing,” Haliburton said. “So many people doing special things.” Indiana is 44-16 since the calendar turned to 2025.
Fischer: Myles Turner Expected To Re-Sign With Pacers
Myles Turner will be one of the NBA’s marquee free agents this summer, but it sounds like he probably won’t be going anywhere. According to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link), there’s a “rising expectation” around the NBA that the veteran center will re-sign with the Pacers.
Turner is finishing his 10th season in Indiana after being selected with the 11th pick of the 2015 draft. The 6’11” big man has helped the Pacers reach the Eastern Conference Finals each of the past two seasons, and those back-to-back deep playoff runs have contributed to the league-wide perception that Indiana will do what it takes to retain him this summer, Fischer writes.
While Turner has been the subject of trade rumors several times during the past decade, Indiana never pulled the trigger on a deal.
With the 29-year-old on an expiring contract this season and not eligible for an extension prior to free agency, there was more speculation leading up to February’s trade deadline that he might be gettable, but the Pacers never appeared to seriously entertain the idea of moving him this year, which suggested they felt good about their odds of negotiating a new deal this offseason.
Turner’s current contract, which he signed in January 2023, was a two-year extension worth $41MM. He has made a strong case over the last two seasons for a raise on that $20.5MM annual salary, having continued to serve as the Pacers’ defensive anchor while providing strong offensive production. In 149 regular season outings since the start of 2023/24, he has averaged 16.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game on .503/.379/.773 shooting.
Rudy Gobert (three years, $109.5MM) and Jarrett Allen (three years, $90.7MM) are among the veteran centers who have signed contract extensions during the 2024/25 season that might come up as comparables for Turner during his upcoming negotiations. Those deals will cover Gobert’s age 33-to-35 seasons and Allen’s age 28-to-30 seasons. Turner will turn 30 next March.
Investing heavily in Turner could create some cap issues for the Pacers, who have historically remained out of luxury tax territory — they haven’t been a taxpayer since 2006 and have paid just under $9MM in total tax penalties since the system was introduced nearly 25 years ago.
Indiana already has $165MM in guaranteed money on its books next season for 10 players, with the luxury tax line projected to come in at $187.9MM. If the Pacers have to pay $30MM+ per year to re-sign Turner and want to stay out of tax territory, they’d have to shed salary elsewhere on the roster. According to Fischer, rival teams are anticipating “roster-consolidation trade conversations” in Indiana.
Luke Adams contributed to this story.
Pacers Notes: Haliburton, Carlisle, Technicals, Turner
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
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
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
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
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.