Pacers Set to Bring Back Turner, Pay Luxury Tax for First Time in 20 Years

The Pacers are ready to commit to their core, even if it means crossing a salary threshold for the first time in two decades.

Indiana is prepared to re-sign Myles Turner, who is an unrestricted free agent this offseason, to a multiyear extension, ESPN’s Shams Charania said Sunday ahead of Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Turner is expected to command around $30 million per year, which would push the Pacers above the luxury tax for the first time since the 2005–06 season. 

“The Pacers have determined that they will be entering the luxury tax next season for the first time in 20 years. They want to keep this team intact and make a real run not only this season, but for the next few seasons to come,” Charania said.

Turner, who Indiana drafted No. 11 overall in 2015 and is the longest-tenured Pacer on the roster, is reportedly interested in a return. Turner’s future has been in question for years, especially after it became clear the team would need to enter the luxury tax once it agreed to long-term extensions with Tyrese Haliburton (five years, $244.6 million) and Pascal Siakam (four years, $189.5 million).

“I’ve been on the trade block for like six years,” Turner wrote in The Players’ Tribune in May. “I’m only a few years removed from when I was having a hard time making it one day to the next. I’ve been through too damn much to front like I don’t have perspective.”

Softer Penalty

A change written in the NBA CBA will give the Pacers a little bit of reprieve as they cross the luxury-tax threshold.

For the last two seasons, teams within about $5 million to $10 million of the luxury tax would need to pay about $1.75 per dollar over the limit. For the 2025–26 season, teams within that roughly $5.7 million to $11.4 million range of the tax will be penalized only $1.25 for every dollar above the tax. 

The Pacers will be about $17 million below the luxury-tax mark, which is projected to be $187.9 million next year, assuming they exercise the $2.9 million team option of Tony Bradley, one of Turner’s backups.

That will give the Pacers close to $30 million in space next year to offer Turner while staying within the first luxury-tax bracket.

The penalty for teams that are “repeat” offenders of the luxury tax is that they will pay a minimum of $3 for every dollar of tax instead of the $2.50 they paid over the last two seasons. Fortunately for the Pacers, they have avoided the tax for decades, though this deal will put them at risk in future years.

Indiana will also avoid the dreaded second-apron, which comes with roster-building penalties on top of the monetary ones.