If the Pacers stand pat and don't make a major trade this season the main question next offseason will be what to do at center. Do they pay the tax and bring back Turner? Bring him back but shed other salary to duck the tax? Or let him walk and downgrade at center in order to duck the tax?
The Pacers would have 11 players on the roster going into the next season. If you add in their '25 pick (let's say it falls around #20) and add a vet minimum they'd be about 15M under the tax*.
Opinions vary on how much Turner will get paid next summer. Claxton just signed a deal at 25M a year, but BRK has more cap space than they can efficiently use. Hartenstein got 3
/87M with 30M in year one, but it's a descending salary with a team option at the end. Turner is better than those guys but not by much, and he's older.
Let's say Turner got 3/81M, no options, 25 + 27 + 29. That would put them 10M over the tax. The easiest way to get under would be to trade Toppin and sign someone on the minimum. (fwiw his 14M salary will be a hair below the '26 NTMLE, in theory he could be traded to a team that had cap space or a team that wanted to use the NTMLE as a trade exception). Replacing Toppin with a min player would suck but it might happen especially since it would free up minutes for Jarace…or maybe none of this comes to pass because they make the big much-awaited consolidation trade.
*on the cap sheet I'm mostly cribbing from capsheets.com
by BlueCollarGoldSwaggr
8 Comments
They better pay Myles
we have to pay Myles. despite the stats not showing it, he absolutely took a step forward this season. hes still a top center in the league.
The situation is only just beginning
It gets worse the year after that, when both Mathurin and Nesmith need new contracts
This is going to be unpopular, but the problem starts at the top
Siakam is closer to a $35m per year player than a max player
IST Tyrese is absolutely a max player, but if what we’re getting is the playoffs version, he’s not worth the max either
We can comfortably re-sign Turner if we could just shave $10m per year off Siakam’s contract
Welp, looks like this is the championship window, then.
Based on last season if they make another deep playoff run bringing back Turner is no brainer imo I wouldn’t even be surprised if Simon goes into the tax for a few years.
Signing TJ to 4y pmuch shows their guard rotation is set with Ty/Drew/Benn/TJ
Aaron/Obi/Jarace taking whatever forward minutes fits best with Siakam and Turner at the 5 with Jackson/Wiseman for depth.
Shep/Furphy/Freeman will get minutes based on availability throughout the year but overall we have 3 Centers and unless Wiseman pulls a Houdini MIP this team is fairly dependent on Myles’ shooting ability to give Siakam space.
Honestly pay the man and give this group a few more runs. Barring a major regression or missed games the stats indicate this is championship caliber team as currently constructed.
Also because I missed him JJ will maintain vibes and order as only he can do
Myles stays until he can’t walk anymore.
All in baby!
While I think the majority of yall are delusional, I do have to tip my hat to your unwavering loyalty to your guy. It’s legitimately impressive even if the majority of yall would without hesitation trade a chip to see Myles play his entire career in Indy.