4 Years, $107 Million! A Finals Center! A Trade Could Happen Quickly

On September 8 Beijing time, according to ESPN, during this offseason the Bucks have been looking for a new team for Myles Turner, but no team has been willing to take on his contract. In the summer of 2025, the Bucks signed Turner to a four-year, $107 million deal in order to appease Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Now that Giannis has also left, the Bucks have decided to rebuild, and keeping Turner no longer seems meaningful. Turner was born on March 24, 1996, and has just turned 30 years old, so he is not considered old. Turner has three years and $83 million remaining on his contract, with an average annual salary of $27.67 million, which is not considered excessive. Why does nobody want Turner? The Bucks may even need to attach draft picks to make a trade happen.

On one hand, the remaining contract length is long; on the other hand, Turner’s form has declined significantly. Contending teams do not have the flexibility to take on the deal, while rebuilding teams prefer to develop younger big men, leaving Turner in an awkward situation. Bleacher Report’s mock trade proposal: The Bucks send Turner, Rollins, and a 2031 first-round pick to acquire Pistons center Jalen Duren in a three-for-one deal.

Although Duren did not perform well in the playoffs, he is still under 23 years old. Turner’s contract is viewed by some as a negative asset, and this package clearly would not convince the Pistons. Besides Turner, the Bucks are also actively shopping Kyle Kuzma. Kuzma’s contract is worth $102 million over four years and expires in the summer of 2027. Even an expiring contract has attracted little interest.

Looking at Turner’s statistics, you can understand why he is not in high demand. In the 2025-26 season, Turner played 71 regular-season games for the Bucks, starting all of them. He averaged 26.9 minutes per game, 11.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.7 steals, 1.6 blocks, and 1.2 turnovers, with shooting splits of 44%, 38.3%, and 74%.

In the 2024-25 season, Turner played 72 regular-season games for the Pacers, starting all of them. He averaged 30.2 minutes per game, 15.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.8 steals, 2 blocks, and 1.7 turnovers, with shooting splits of 48.1%, 39.6%, and 77.3%. The comparison shows that Turner’s statistics declined noticeably after joining the Bucks last season.

In the summer of 2025, Turner helped the Pacers reach the Finals. In the Finals, he averaged 10.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.3 steals, 2.0 blocks, and 1.4 turnovers per game, shooting 37.7% from the field, 21.4% from three-point range, and 75.9% from the free-throw line. In Finals Game 6, Turner scored only 3 points and grabbed 4 rebounds; in Finals Game 7, Turner had 6 points and 4 rebounds.

In the 2025 offseason, Turner became a free agent. The Pacers did not retain him, and Turner chose to join the Bucks. In an interview, he said: “The 2024-25 season was my contract year. The Pacers initially told me they would give me an extension. But after Haliburton was injured in the Finals, the Pacers no longer wanted to keep me.”

Turner was the 11th overall pick in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft, in the same draft class as Karl-Anthony Towns and Devin Booker. Turner spent 10 full years with the Pacers and was almost placed on the trade block before the deadline every year, which led him to avoid buying a house. Now, only one year after joining the Bucks, he is facing another potential trade. Which team do you think would be a good fit for Turner? Can he return to form?