The Milwaukee Bucks entered the offseason with no clear direction at center. They didn't even have one under contract. Would they bring back Brook Lopez? Promote Bobby Portis to a starter? Make an incredibly bold gamble and start Jericho Sims? There were no clear-cut answers. That is until a rival in Indiana decided not to pay Myles Turner what he felt like he deserved.
With Indiana reluctant to pay their starting center, the door suddenly swung wide open for a different team to make contact. Stunned, the Milwaukee Bucks offered him a significant $108 million contract over four years, and Turner accepted, giving them their starting big man of the future. Absolutely no one expected this to happen this summer.
Now, it has to pan out. This move failing could be the final nail in the coffin.
Bucks must succeed after high-stakes Turner move
The Milwaukee Bucks didn't outright sign Myles Turner. They made a historic gamble by waiving and stretching the rest of Damian Lillard's contract, doing some financial gymnastics to make room for their new starting center. Now, over the next several years, the Bucks will be paying Lillard to not play for them, limiting them financially. That's why this signing has to work now. If not, it will all have been for nothing.
Luckily for them, the Bucks are built to help Turner thrive. He's about to play with arguably the most versatile defender in the game in Giannis Antetokounmpo, who will make things much easier for him on that side of the ball. These two will be nightmarish for opposing offenses. Offensively, Turner will thrive off the spacing created by the Greek Freak and serve as a nice screener for the guards.
There's been plenty of talk about how the Milwaukee Bucks may have overpaid for Turner. The Bucks wouldn't have found a better fit out there for this roster, especially not next to Giannis, who can thrive under Milwaukee's new youth-minded vision. Realistically, Turner was Milwaukee's dream scenario to upgrade at center this summer, and they got him. It cost a lot, but they got him.
As it has been for the last several years, the pressure is on. Seven years ago, the Bucks got lucky that they stumbled onto Brook Lopez, who became such a vital cog for this team. Those seven years went by quickly. Every year the Milwaukee Bucks have Turner is another year they have their perfect center on the roster. They can't afford to waste it. Opportunities like this just don't happen often.
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