The Indiana Pacers and their fans are still reeling from the loss of long-time Pacer Myles Turner. His shocking defection to the Milwaukee Bucks added insult to injury, with the Pacers already expecting superstar Tyrese Haliburton to miss all of next season.
Being without Haliburton and Turner suddenly makes next season all the more bleak for a Pacers team that looked like they were going to be contenders for the foreseeable future.
Turner himself state that he left because he wanted to “stay competitive,” calling into question whether he felt they were built to win.
Full quote from Myles Turner, when asked why he thought Milwaukee was a good fit for him in free agency: https://t.co/SRvkb0vXZO pic.twitter.com/Pv3Zqbrpvz
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) July 11, 2025
However, recent developments suggest that the Pacers may not be in as bad a spot. While they are still likely to miss Turner, the addition of underrated center Jay Huff should help to lessen the blow. As should the returning James Wiseman, who missed most of last season with an ACL tear.
They will likely rely on center-by-committee to replace Turner, and while Turner is still valuable as a player, it could give them a chance to remake their team and improve in the area where he struggled.
The Pacers’ center-by-committee can make up for Turner’s loss
Although Turner is a skilled shot blocker and a reliable three-point shooter, Pacers fans know all too well that he often struggled on the glass. So much so that despite starting all seven games for the Pacers in the NBA Finals, he ranked 11th in rebounding in the series.
Didn’t realize this but Myles Turner was the 11th leading rebounder in the NBA Finals this year
A starting center in the NBA Finals got out rebounded by 10 other players
— Yeah Yeah! (@YeahYeahOkBro) July 8, 2025
That isn’t shocking considering that he averaged just 6.5 rebounds in 30.2 minutes per game. Moreover, the Pacers ranked 28th in rebounding and 29th in offensive rebounding. That part of his game certainly won’t be missed and should be easy for a replacement to correct.
Who coach Rick Carlisle will tap to start at center is a big question mark, with Isaiah Jackson, Huff, Tony Bradley, and Wiseman all being options. Finding the right combination will be key to the Pacers’ playoff hopes.
The Pacers must rely on depth to make the playoffs next season
They probably aren’t going to be a top-four seed. Instead, they will likely be a bottom-four seed and potentially have to compete in the play-in. Having a center rotation that could give them 80% of what Turner did and be far better on the glass would go a long way towards helping them make the playoffs.
Another factor is their depth, with them being one of the deeper teams in the NBA. That and their young talent, with Ben Mathurin’s development being a big storyline next season, as is Andrew Nembhard’s development, with him being tasked with replacing Haliburton.
Overall, the Pacers likely will still miss Turner, but some of his flaws could potentially be fixed by his replacements. If the Pacers can find a reliable starting center from their collection of bigs and Halliburton can come back healthy next season, Indiana just might make it back to the Finals shortly.
