He was a popular trade target before next month’s deadline. In fact, The Athletic ranked Myles Turner as the best player who could be available on their ‘NBA Trade Deadline Big Board’.
But the Indiana Pacers center will be staying put after signing a two-year, $60 million ($A84m) contract extension according to ESPN’s NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski.
The deal also includes an additional $17.1 million renegotiation — the largest in NBA history — on his 2022-2023 salary, per Turner’s agent Austin Brown of CAA Sports.
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Wojnarowski reported on Sunday that the initial expectation heading into the offseason was that Turner would be traded but that Indiana’s surprise turnaround on the court changed that.
Haliburton has been playing at an All-Star level since being traded by the Kings, averaging 20.2 points and a league-high 10.2 assists while Mathurin is in both Rookie of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year conversations.
As for Turner, he is averaging a career-high 17.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game this season.
Instead of rebuilding and trading away pieces, the Pacers are now looking to improve their roster and extending Turner is one key part of that.
There was plenty of interest across the league in Turner, with the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers, and Toronto Raptors all monitoring his situation according to NBA insider Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports.
Complicating a trade offer for Turner though was a right ankle sprain that Wojnarowski reported would keep the Pacers center sidelined beyond February’s trade deadline.
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