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Has to be a sign and trade. Likely would require Kyle Kuzma's salary involved.

this makes me sad. i'm disappointed we couldn't keep him and curious where things fell apart

It’s bad but it’ll be an absolute disaster if Kuzma or Portis are coming back.

It’s hard to fathom that $25m per was too much.

It's all about 2026-27 for Indy.

I'm shocked to see Myles left for a division rival, but I suppose it makes sense to make some moves for a mini re-tool.

What do you guys want to happen this season to set yourself up for 2026-27?

JeffFosters wrote:It’s bad but it’ll be an absolute disaster if Kuzma or Portis are coming back.

It’s hard to fathom that $25m per was too much.

Milwaukee is stretch waiving Dame to do this under the salary cap. No S&T required.


Absolutely horrid management of free agency there. Especially at the salary he ended up taking.

HINrichPolice wrote:
What do you guys want to happen this season to set yourself up for 2026-27?

Uh, not really much we can do?

Scoot McGroot wrote:

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Again,... -1000,... again, not for you Scoot, for content,...

So,... a first year salary around 23,883,930? an AAV of 26,750,000... and the Bucks are able to get a signed offer sheet?

That would have put us into the tax,... but left us 7M below the 3.5 line with 2 roster spots to fill...

From Shams - Just in: The Milwaukee Bucks are waiving Damian Lillard and stretching the remaining $113 million on his contract in order to acquire Myles Turner, sources tell ESPN. Lillard's two seasons in Milwaukee come to an end as he rehabilitates a torn Achilles tendon.

Just looked at their cap sheet,... with a waive & stretch on Dame,... and releasing all their cap holds, they could theoretically get around 30M under the cap?... make an offer to Myles,... then resign their FA's?.... that's all purely theoretical,... dates/timing,.. how much they really could get to?... details unknown,... but at least in theory,... they could do this in space & not have to sign & trade?

Such a shame to see him go to a divisional rival after so many years of trade rumors and sticking with the team.

I understand not wanting to go into the tax next year but even without Hali, we aren’t going to be a bottom feeder in the East, so might as well start running it back and prepare for 26-27. I don’t like it.

What the ****... we couldn't have dumped Toppin somewhere to keep Myles??? He apparently wanted to come back, he's our longest-tenured player and a key part of this team. This is a disaster. Don't tell me we are bringing in Ayton to replace him...

Scoot McGroot wrote:

JeffFosters wrote:It’s bad but it’ll be an absolute disaster if Kuzma or Portis are coming back.

It’s hard to fathom that $25m per was too much.

Milwaukee is stretch waiving Dame to do this under the salary cap. No S&T required.


Absolutely horrid management of free agency there. Especially at the salary he ended up taking.

Just baffling. My working theory is they didn’t see the Dame stretch coming.

Surely the Siakam rumors start now too

Don't like it either,.... Wonder what this is going to mean to Pascal,... who specifically said, (before he was traded here) he wanted to play next to Myles, or (I think) KAT? He said he wanted to play next to a stretch 5,.. in a 5 out system. It will be ok,... (talking to myself),.... understand it,... but not happy about it,...

jowglenn wrote:What the ****... we couldn't have dumped Toppin somewhere to keep Myles??? He apparently wanted to come back, he's our longest-tenured player and a key part of this team. This is a disaster. Don't tell me we are bringing in Ayton to replace him...

MAN! I hope not,..... I would love to be utterly wrong about DeAndre,... and have him show out somewhere,... I just don't think that's gonna happen,... and if doesn't, I pray it 'doesn't happen' someplace other than Indy,.....

From James Boyd at the Athletic:

In terms of the cap mechanics of how Milwaukee will pull this off:

Waive and stretch Damian Lillard.
Sign Tauren Prince with the minimum exception.
Sign Gary Trent Jr. and Kevin Porter Jr. into the room exception.
Right now, that leaves Milwaukee with $19.6 million in cap room. They likely will get to the $24 million they need to sign Myles Turner to a four-year, $107 million deal by moving off of Pat Connaughton's $9.3 million salary.

In the absence of a Connaughton trade, Milwaukee can get to $24.6 million in cap room by stretching Connaughton's contract, so that seems the most likely mechanism for this deal to get done. Milwaukee will also need to either pull its qualifying offer to Ryan Rollins or waive Chris Livingston to get there.

It appears the Bucks will just barely exceed the limit on stretched salary if they stretch Connaughton in addition to Lillard, unless there is a buyout agreement with one or both to reduce salary. Another alternative may be to trade Connaughton for a lower-salaried player and then buy that player out at a reduced number. For instance, Milwaukee could trade Connaughton to the Clippers for Drew Eubanks, buy Eubanks out at half of his $4.75 million presuming he'd make the rest up on the market, and stretch that amount.

Also, note that Lillard cannot re-sign in Milwaukee in 2026, if you were thinking that was a possibility.

Side note: if they move off of Green, Livingstone, & Jackson, who all have 0 guaranteed for 25-26, that comes to 6,744,941,.. which gives them enough to get to the amount to sign Myles,....

Scoot McGroot wrote:

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Great pickup for MIL!

JMaster5K wrote:

Scoot McGroot wrote:

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Again,... -1000,... again, not for you Scoot, for content,...

So,... a first year salary around 23,883,930? an AAV of 26,750,000... and the Bucks are able to get a signed offer sheet?

That would have put us into the tax,... but left us 7M below the 3.5 line with 2 roster spots to fill...

From Shams - Just in: The Milwaukee Bucks are waiving Damian Lillard and stretching the remaining $113 million on his contract in order to acquire Myles Turner, sources tell ESPN. Lillard's two seasons in Milwaukee come to an end as he rehabilitates a torn Achilles tendon.

Just looked at their cap sheet,... with a waive & stretch on Dame,... and releasing all their cap holds, they could theoretically get around 30M under the cap?... make an offer to Myles,... then resign their FA's?.... that's all purely theoretical,... dates/timing,.. how much they really could get to?... details unknown,... but at least in theory,... they could do this in space & not have to sign & trade?

Milwaukee can squeeze Porter and Trent into their Room Exception, so they can be renounced. Prince is signing with the vet minimum, so no cap space needed. They just have to be able to fit Myles and Portis into their cap, and they're awful close enough, if not already there.

My thoughts..
1. This will quiet the Giannis trade rumors for the moment but Giannis w/ Portis and Turner isn’t a title contender and still probably 4-6 range in the East at best. If Giannis leaves at any point all that dead Dame money will be brutal.

2. Losing an asset for nothing is the hardest part for the Pacers. I do see the logic in not wanting to pay Turner for 4 years as he’s 100% slipped, was unplayable at the end of many playoff games and would also have cost you some combination of Mathurin, Obi, Walker.

3. Who’s playing center next year? IJax likely will get minutes but need someone else who can play at least 20-25 minutes.

4. Is a Mathurin extension more likely now that Turner is off the books?

Man!! Best of luck big guy,... gonna keep rooting for you. Hope it turns out the way you want, against everyone but the Pacers,....

Scoot McGroot wrote:

JMaster5K wrote:

Scoot McGroot wrote:

Read on Twitter

Again,... -1000,... again, not for you Scoot, for content,...

So,... a first year salary around 23,883,930? an AAV of 26,750,000... and the Bucks are able to get a signed offer sheet?

That would have put us into the tax,... but left us 7M below the 3.5 line with 2 roster spots to fill...

From Shams - Just in: The Milwaukee Bucks are waiving Damian Lillard and stretching the remaining $113 million on his contract in order to acquire Myles Turner, sources tell ESPN. Lillard's two seasons in Milwaukee come to an end as he rehabilitates a torn Achilles tendon.

Just looked at their cap sheet,... with a waive & stretch on Dame,... and releasing all their cap holds, they could theoretically get around 30M under the cap?... make an offer to Myles,... then resign their FA's?.... that's all purely theoretical,... dates/timing,.. how much they really could get to?... details unknown,... but at least in theory,... they could do this in space & not have to sign & trade?

Milwaukee can squeeze Porter and Trent into their Room Exception, so they can be renounced. Prince is signing with the vet minimum, so no cap space needed. They just have to be able to fit Myles and Portis into their cap, and they're awful close enough, if not already there.

Yup,.. they release the cap holds to clear the space & don't need the Bird rights to resign anyone mentioned,.... I'm with ya,... not happy bout this at all,... but with ya,....

I was thinking that they still have to fill out the roster,.. but if I can count,.. with the players as mentioned, that would put them at 13 on the roster. With only 1 spots to fill,... they won't be as deep,... but they have the right mix to be 2 deep at all the positions,.. and some of their younger guys are going to get run,... but to me,.. they look better without Dame,... sadly.