The trade rumors have swirled all summer, but as training camp looms, Myles Turner is still wearing a Milwaukee Bucks uniform. With the front office holding onto the veteran center for now, reality is setting in for both sides: Turner is likely going to be a Bucks for at least another trade deadline, and another year at most.
Whether he finishes the season in Wisconsin or eventually finds a new home via trade, Turner needs to pivot into a completely different gear this year. He needs to be a leader.
It's time for Myles Turner to step up both on and off the court
Look around the locker room and you'll see a ragtag group of young Bucks still starting out with barely any idea of what to expect in the league. No players from the championship team remain. The culture is bound for a reset, and the lone elder is none other than Turner himself. That status carries weight and responsibility.
Turner's first season in Milwaukee was a significant step backward from what made him attractive in the first place. The fit with Giannis was always conceptually clean but so very murky in practice, and the numbers reflected it. Per PBP Stats, the Bucks were a net-minus 6.03 points per 100 possessions with Turner on the floor. Milwaukee was actively worse with their starting center in the game.
So coming off a sluggish first year in Milwaukee where his numbers dipped rather drastically, Turner's individual fit has plenty of skeptics. The outside noise about his contract and his drop in production isn't going away overnight.
But stats and trade machine proposals aside, the immediate value Turner can provide this team isn't just measured in floor-spacing jumpers or weak-side blocks. It’s about setting the standard for a locker room suddenly flooded with teenagers and high-upside rookies like Brayden Burries, Nate Ament, and Kasparas Jakucionis.
It's easy to underestimate the value of a mentor in this league, yet their effects are always well-documented. For Giannis, it was the likes of Caron Butler and Jared Dudley. And now Turner, too, at this point in his career, can be the figure that helps these young Bucks adjust to the league and turn the page as players.
Myles Turner can still redeem his Milwaukee Bucks legacy once it's time to go
The likes of Andre Jackson Jr. and MarJon Beauchamp never quite panned out in this league, due in part to the fact that they didn't have the same mentor figures other players did.
Turner might never be the complementary star that we all were hoping he would be after the Damian Lillard waiver, but he can still be the mentor figure that changes things for the likes of Kel'el Ware, Nate Ament, and even Ousmane Dieng.
Basketball aside, Turner has been through playoff battles, deep postseason runs, and massive organizational shifts. The Turner era wasn't what fans had hoped, but when it's all said and done, perhaps it's his guidance for the young Bucks -- and the organization as a whole -- that will prove to be his legacy once he moves on.
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