NBA Rumors: Indiana Pacers big Myles Turner reportedly wants big money in free agency; will it impact his trade market this season?
Heading into the 2022-23 NBA season, one of the players that is widely to be moved either at the NBA Trade Deadline or before, is Myles Turner. The Indiana Pacers are in the middle of a long rebuild and Turner is not part of the timeline.
However, there’s one factor that could end up impacting his trade market heading into the season – it’s the fact that he’s reportedly looking for a big-money deal when he hits free agency after this year.
Turner will be looking for more than $20 million annually when he hits the free-agent market, according to a recent report. For any team that may be interested in Turner, it’s absolutely something that they will have to factor in before acquiring him.
Even though there’s a chance teams could target him in an attempt to be a rental just for the remainder of this season, there’s a strong chance that whichever team lands him will want to extend his contract. Especially if they are forced to give up more than one asset, which could end up happening if a bidding war breaks out.
I’m not sure there will be teams lining up to give a couple of young pieces or a young piece and a first-round pick for a player that’s just going to be on the roster for a few months. Though, there aren’t many teams that are lining up to give bigs $20 million per year.
Even less so for a player that may or may not benefit from the modern NBA.
Turner is not a traditional big by any means, but he’s also not one of these unicorn frontcourt players that can flourish all over the floor. Turner is coming off a season in which he averaged 13 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks per game on 51 percent shooting from the field and 33 percent shooting from 3-point range.
There will be a market for Turner, but it remains to be seen how vast it will be or how much his projected asking price in free agency will impact it.