Will Giannis DEPART Milwaukee⁉️ + How signing Turner & waiving Dame impacts the Bucks | NBA Today

Will Giannis DEPART Milwaukee⁉️ + How signing Turner & waiving Dame impacts the Bucks | NBA Today

Welcome to day two of the NBA Today free agency special. We’re going to have you covered for not one, not two, oh yes, three hours, my friends. Joining me here in our Los Angeles studios, the three-time champ, Udonis Hlam, our wonderful analyst Tim Leggler, our front office insider, Bobby Mars, and our senior insider Brian Winhorse. I’m Malikica Andrews. We’re 25 hours into free agency. There have been over 50 agreements made so far and fellas, this morning, Milwaukee sent shock waves through the entire league. So for more on the Bucks, let’s welcoming our senior insider, Sham Shirana. Shams, Miles Turner reached an agreement to join the Bucks today. But it’s how they made that flexibility that’s so fascinating. What can you tell us about what went into this deal?
Malikica, they reached an agreement on a four-year $ 107 million deal with Miles Turner as a free agent. That’s not possible under their current salary restraints. But what they’re doing is they’re waving and stretching Damen Lillard and his $113 million left on his deal. And it was made possible all of this with Miles Turner because as a longest tenure pacer, he wanted to be back in Indie, but he believed that they had given him several offers below the market value and just wanted to avert from the luxury tax. And so John Horse, the Bucks general manager, Turner’s agent, Austin Brown, last 24 hours worked to figure out a creative pathway on this wildcard type of move that allowed Miles Turner to go there. there. And so remember in 2020 we saw John Horse pull off Drew Holiday. 2023 Damen Lillard. And now here in 2025 they go and get Miles Turner in in a way that no one in the league expected.
Yeah. Creativity I think is a good way to put it here. Seams. So we’re going to be hearing much more from you throughout the show. Back with you in just a moment. Bobby, before we dive into this a little bit more, waving and stretching is not just what I was doing at the gym this morning. Can you just explain what that exactly means?
It wasn’t what I was doing either. So they Damen Lu had $113 million owed. He had two years left on his contract. We’re not going to get into the semantics as the formula. You take that amount of money and you stretch it over five years.
There’s a $22.5 million cap hit. It’s the largest ever in NBA history. This is the largest waiver in stretch in NBA history. That sits on your books.
Yeah.
Or ever. That’s not a live person. So that money will count against the cap. Damen L would get that here. And when you look at it, this was Milwaukeekey’s get out of jail free card at the expense of Damen Lillard as far as how they were able to go out and add a player in free agency like Miles Turner. There is the human element to this all too. Remember, this is a player that Torres Achilles in the first round against Indiana is one of the 75 probably greatest players of all time and is now is probably going to be one of the most soughtafter free agents when he does recover from this injury. There’s so many layers to this. I’m glad you brought up the human side for Damen Lillard because the first time I saw this news, when the news from Shams broke across my screen this morning, I said, “Dang, this is just a reminder of how brutal this business is.” Damen Lillard, a top 75 player, one of the greatest guys to be around in the league. But now there’s a series of decisions that had to be made. Milwaukee in the short term, Brian, they didn’t have any flexibility. How would you rate their ability to go out and build now? Well, you’ve heard the concept of robbing from Peter to pay Paul. This is mortgaging Peter’s condo and rating his 401k. They are taking they’ve already traded away their draft control and they’ve already used up all of their available salary cap space for this year and next year. So they are borrowing from salary cap space of years deep into the future. We’ve never seen anything like this. Now I’ve seen people today say that this is insane. I don’t think it’s insane. And as I’ve talked to more and more people in the league, they don’t think it’s insane either. They think it’s audacious.
Okay? because they have taken something, you know, there’s even a strategy component to this because the salary slot of Dame Lillard for this year was $50 million.
Now they take it down to $23 million and they bring in Miles Turner’s 27 million. Now you have 50 million and instead of having a guy that’s not going to play, you have a $27 million player.
That’s efficiency. It’s not efficiency that’s going to feel good in 2028, but it’s efficiency that helps them this year when Giannis Tennakoupo is on the roster and is looking for reasons to stay in Milwaukee. And so it is an audacious move. Here is my concern.
I’m not sure that it moves the needle a lot. Miles Turner is an excellent player. He’s a franchise center. He’s in his prime. He is comparable to Brook Lopez. He is better than Brook Lopez at this point in their careers.
He he fits very well with Giannis. He stretches the floor. He will defend the rim. He dominated Brook Lopez when they played each other in the playoffs. However, this move doesn’t take them from saying fifth in the east to second that it doesn’t look like, oh my gosh, this is a this is a changing move in the bounce of power in the east. It’s a great aggressive move by their front office supported by their ownership. But I’m worried that after you get over the shock and awe that the Bucks aren’t really materially in a different place. I could be wrong. It’s July 1st. We could get to January 1st and I could say, “My god, this guy’s an all-star.” But I am worried about that’s that that’s the way it’s going to play out. I agree with you a thousand%. I love the the fact that they got Miles turned over there, but you’re looking at two similar guys. It really doesn’t change your style of play. My concern is the defense on the perimeter. What are you going to do with the defense on the perimeter? Who’s going to be your point guard? There’s so many different things that you have to work on with this team. But I do like the Miles Turner trade. You trade a guy that gets in 1.9 blocks and you bring in a guy that has two point two blocks a game. You get a guy that was a two-time alldefensive player, you get a guy that was a two-time blocks leader. So, this is perfect for Giannis. This move was made for nothing more than to keep Giannis happy. But does this put them in a position to win a championship? I don’t think they’re any closer at all.
I I don’t think it’s the answer, but it’s definitely an aggressive response for Giannis. And it’s about as good as you’re going to do to replicate what Brook Lopez did. I think he’s a significantly better offensive player than Lopez right now. You saw the numbers we put up similar. That’s not Brook Lopez now. Brook Lopez offense has dropped back. Now, rim protection, that’s a different story. Brook Lopez still one of the best in the league. Miles Turner does that at a pretty high rate as well. The one thing for Miles Turner right now, I’m glad he got his money because he did not finish the season well. He really struggled to shoot the ball in the finals. Everybody was talking about that. It was hanging in the air. I think it helped Indiana kind of decide what they wanted to do with him. And the Bucks get a guy in his prime. Brian, to your point, that can really play and his style fits very well with Giannis because he can space the floor.
Yeah, Shams, I’d love to know what are you hearing about how this move impacts Giannis and his future in Milwaukee? Malikica, I’m told Jans Kmpo will continue to evaluate everything the entire off season. He took notice of this move today, no doubt. But sources tell me he will evaluate more than just one day. And at the end of the offseason, my understanding is Jansen Dumpo will ask himself, he’ll look in the mirror, he’ll look around him and ask the question, can I win a championship, a second championship with this team as currently constructed? And the answer to that question faces and looms Jansen Dumpo, the Bucks, and Milwaukee.
And the answer to that question, it may not be decided here on July 1st because the Milwaukee Bucks may not be done. We’ve seen them make moves throughout the day, but ultimately Shams are absolutely right. That is what is most important here, Bobby.
Well, that is and I think when you look at what they’ve been able to do, it’s kind of like the old and the new as far as who they’ve brought in. They brought back Gary Trent. They brought back Torian Prince, Kevin Porter Jr., they went out and got Gary Harris. So what you’re seeing is a little bit of a trend in shooting. They’re basically surrounding Giannis and Miles Turner with some shooting.
The the question and UD and Tim mentioned this who’s playing point guard,
right?
That’s the biggest thing. I know you can play Kevin Porter. Whenever you have a question with the Bucks, the answer is Giannis.
Giannis. No doubt will be playing more point guard.
But when he’s on the bench now, who’s running the show? We saw how they were able to maneuver that with Dame in the in the game where Giannis was able to run point. Dame was able to play off the ball and then that worked. That was one of the top scoring duos in the league. It it looked good. But now who who runs the point? And honestly, as I look at that situation, I look at where the Bucks were and even if Dame was healthy and there’s no knock against Dame, but was that a championship caliber team anyway? So to your point, somebody gave him a get out of jail free card for both of them because I look at Dame and was he ever really happy to be the Dame that he needed to be. So I look at both sides. He gets all his money. He can pick where he wanted to go, which is a situation he wanted to have a few years ago. So, I look at both teams in both situations and everybody can win here. Even though it’s unfortunate, everybody can still win here.
And that’s their only get out of jail free card because how the rules are is that you can only have 15% of salary that stretch that counts against the cap. They’re right at it.
Yeah.
So, this is this was their one big move. They traded a couple picks when they sent Pat Coneton to Charlotte today. Those were the last of their second round picks. They still have a future first in 2031 or 2032. And when you look at it, you have three players now. Miles Turner, Kyle Koosma, and Giannis making 85% of your salary cap. So that’s who you are right now.
So Milwaukee is one of the entities that is impacted by all of this. You mentioned Dame though and his ability now to maybe choose where he wants to go, even if this is a little bit of a bittersweet pill to swallow. Our Anscape writer Mark Spears has a little bit more insight on this. Mark, what more can you tell us about how Dame feels about all of this? Well, Malika, I’m gonna take you back home right now. Dame’s doing the Brookfield dance. He’s ecstatic. Uh, his agent, Aaron Goodwin, told me this is an incredible opportunity for him. He gets to be a free agent two years early. Choose where he wants to go. Money really doesn’t matter right now because he’s still getting paid by the Bucks. He’s going to be in Portland, which is an important part for him to rehab, be around his kids, which is extremely important. Wherever he goes next, that team must know that he plans to rehab in Portland so he could be close to his family. But he he’ll be around. And how many teams are calling? Oh, they’re calling. Uh there’s about double digit number of teams calling interested in him. So I think the big question, too, is like, well, when will Dane be back? Uh there’s some speculation that he could be back around the All-Star break. So, if he signs with a team, uh, it’s probably going to be may well may well be a two-year deal, which gives him very economical deal for that team, but also allows them to him to do a 2-year kind of try out, see how it is, see if this a place he could be long term. So, this is Dame’s doing the Brook I can’t do it. He’s doing a Brookfield dance. He’s ecstatic. This is great news for him. Little bittersweet at first, but once the death settled and they figured it out,
boy, this is this is a good day for him.
Ecstatic. Does that surprise you at all? Legs that no free money and freedom and you can go where you want.
Best of both worlds. He gets his money and he gets to handp pick. This is a guy that’s never been to the finals. Hasn’t won a championship, right?
This a guy who’s never hit free agency either.
Exactly. He can handpick now where he wants to go and, you know, find a team potentially that doesn’t have necessarily that lead guard, dominant lead guard locked up. he can sit around and look. And look, if he comes back by All-Star break, that’d be a little bit surprising to me. But if he’s able to do that, you’re talking about having a couple of months to find his timing, rhythm, his consistency, cuz that is going to take time. Even if he feels great physically, by the time you get to the playoffs, you might have a formidable force on your hands for one of these contenders.
Unless somebody else wants to give him more free money to let him rehab while he’s not playing, which if they do, take it. I would just sit back and wait and see what happens in the league for sure
and worry about your rehab. And if you get to the back end of the season, you could be a huge change agent on a team that’s competing. But if somebody wants to give him free money today, it’s Dame’s world right now. We’re all just living in it.
And not saying it’s going to happen, but imagine this. You can actually have a team that can sign Damen Lillard for the minimum.
Yeah, that that’s we that’s unheard of. We we would have never thought that a team
Why for the minimum? Ask for more. There’s so many people bidding. Ask for more. Damon is riding the hot right now.
Hey Wendy, I’m working on something here. Chill out. Just saying. I’m just saying something. We can’t blow up a spot here. That’s been the majority of the conversation and I think rightfully so. But then in the back of my mind all day, I’ve kind of been thinking about Indiana because weren’t we just a couple of weeks talking about how they were willing to go into the luxury tax? Indiana does not like Milwaukee.
You got that right. It’s one It’s probably their biggest rival in the in the league right now. So, um I do think that they intention was to go into luxury tax. And by the way, they made offers to Miles Turner that would have put them in the luxury tax.
Okay.
Um and to be honest with you, $27 million a year is market value. This is what he signed. I mean, we had Yakob Purle signed with the Raptors today for roughly the same contract. Nas Reed uh last week signed for roughly the same price, slightly less than this. This isn’t a contract that is out of line, but clearly the Pacers weren’t willing to go that deep in the luxury tax. And that look, the Pacers are a team that is not been a team that has been willing or has clearance to spend into the tax. They have not paid the tax in 20 years. And if Tyres Hallebertton had not gotten injured, this may have a different outcome, but he did. And there was a line that the Pacers were not willing to cross. And to be honest with you, they didn’t plan for this. when they were looking at seeing what they thought they might have to pay, they did not plan for the Milwaukee Bucks to be able to come in and make this bid. And I’m sure it hit them out of the blue.
But if I’m Tyrese Hallebert and similarly to if I’m Jason Tatum, I’m looking around and saying, who’s going to be there when I’m ready to come back, Bobby?
Well, that’s right. I mean, and I think the timing of it really stinks for Indiana that we’re almost two days in and every free agent center is off the board already. We saw Brook Lopez, Clint Capella, um, all those players there. And I think that’s the biggest question as far as right now Tony Bradley
is their starting center right now. And you’ll probably see Obie Toppin also.
Well, you also Isaiah Jackson towards Achilles in November. So, he’s going to be back to the early part of the season. He’s a guy they really like. He’s never really gotten more than 16 17 minutes a game. They like him a lot. So, there is another big body with bouncy legs. He’s coming back from major injury, but he’s going to have most of the season to find his legs again.
James Wisman, too, who also tore his Achilles last year coming back off injury. I I you know the Pacers at this point they’ve taken a pretty big step back and they I with the big question that the league is asking are they going to take any more steps back right are there are there going to be any more players on that roster who might be available in the coming days
remember they got their pick back in that trade we talked about that they have their first
seemed like something that wasn’t very important when it happened in the middle of the finals but now all of a sudden that pick is looking much more favorable Some tech.

Bobby Marks, Brian Windhorst, Marc J. Spears, Shams Charania, Udonis Haslem and Tim Legler join Malika Andrews on NBA Today’s Free Agency Special to react to the Milwaukee Bucks signing Myles Turner and waiving Damian Lillard.

0:00 Bucks sign Turner & waive Lillard
6:22 How the move impacts Giannis
9:06 What’s next for Dame?
12:11 Why did the Pacers let Turner walk?

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