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The Milwaukee Bucks are waiving All-Star point guard Damian Lillard to give them the flexibility to sign Myles Turner to a four-year, $107 million contract, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, taking arguably the top available center off the market in the NBA’s 2025 free agency period.
The stunning moves happened after Turner was unable to come to an agreement to re-sign with the Indiana Pacers a little more than a week after they lost the seven-game NBA Finals to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Bucks are creating the room to sign Turner by waiving Lillard and stretching the remaining $113 million and two years on his contract. Lillard is expected to miss most, if not all of next season after tearing his Achilles in the playoffs just days after he returned from dealing with deep vein thrombosis.
BREAKING: Free agent center Myles Turner has agreed to a four-year, $107 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, plus a player option for year four in 2028-29 and a full 15% trade kicker, sources tell ESPN. Stunner. pic.twitter.com/MlDkZusVOv
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2025
Per Charania, Turner’s deal includes a player option for the 2028-29 season and a full 15% trade kicker.
Turner is coming off a stellar 2024-25 campaign that saw him average 15.6 points on 48/40/77 shooting splits to go with 6.5 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.5 assists in 30.2 minutes per game for the Pacers, playing an integral role in Indiana’s remarkable run to the NBA Finals.
According to Charania, Turner wanted to remain with the Pacers, but the team’s “aversion to the tax,” especially after Tyrese Haliburton’s injury, kept a deal from getting done. Now, Turner should help cement Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee.
The 29-year-old Turner has become an excellent two-way contributor — one of just four players in the NBA last season with at least 100 blocked shots, 100 3-pointers and 50 steals, alongside Victor Wembanyama, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Brook Lopez.
Pacers opponents shot 57.7% at the basket with Turner defending this season, according to Second Spectrum tracking — just outside the top 25 among players to defend at least 200 up-close tries. All told, the opposition shot just 63.4% at the cup when Turner was on the floor — which was 4.5% below their success rate when he was off of it, and which would have finished third in the NBA over the course of the full season, behind only Oklahoma City and Cleveland.
