Myles Turner's Ledger: From Indiana Tormentor to Milwaukee's…

By the Bucks Nightly Desk · Sunday, October 18

Myles Turner spent last season producing modest counting numbers for Indiana, the team that had just finished off Milwaukee in back-to-back playoff exits. Milwaukee signed him away this summer, and his preseason has already included a win over his old club.

Myles Turner of the Bucks — Myles Turner. Photo: Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Last season

Turner played 71 games for Indiana, averaging 26.9 minutes, 11.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks. He shot 44.0 percent from the field and 38.3 percent from three on 5.4 attempts a night, with a 74.0 percent free-throw mark. Usage stayed low at 18.1 percent, but his efficiency was real: a 58.4 true-shooting figure built on spacing and shot-blocking rather than touches.

This summer

Milwaukee signed Turner away from Indiana, the club that had eliminated the Bucks in the first round in both 2024 and 2025. That history makes every future meeting between the two sides personal, and it put a known floor-spacing shot-blocker into a frontcourt that badly needed one after this year's roster overhaul.

October 16

Milwaukee beat Indiana 128-127 in the preseason finale, Turner's first game against his former team in a new jersey. Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel flagged Turner as a player looking to lead with experience, alongside notes on the looming roster deadline and an extension question still hanging over the center spot.

Right now

Turner is not on the injury report heading into the opener. His deal runs $26.6 million this season, $27.9 million in 2027-28, and a $29.1 million player option for 2028-29 — the second-largest contract on Milwaukee's books behind Tyler Herro's $33.0 million.

What he needs to be

Turner doesn't need to score more than he did in Indiana. He needs to anchor a defense that finished well below league average last season for this roster, protect the rim often enough to let Herro and Jaquez Jr. gamble on the perimeter, and keep knocking down threes so the spacing holds when the ball stops moving.

Next Milwaukee opens the regular season October 21 at Washington, Turner's first game that counts in a Bucks uniform.

What is Myles Turner's contract with the Bucks?

Turner is set to earn $26.6 million this season and $27.9 million in 2027-28, with a $29.1 million player option for 2028-29.

Is Myles Turner injured heading into the season?

No. Turner is not listed on Milwaukee's injury report ahead of the October 21 opener at Washington.

By the Bucks Nightly Desk, written from the club's data and the reports on file, with every name and number checked against them. How the desks work.