The Indiana Pacers have been playing well lately and seem to be rounding into shape ahead of the playoffs. They have won nine of their last 12 games, and they seem to be strengthening their hold on the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference.
But no matter how the playoffs turn out for them, this summer will be big for them. A few of their key players, including center Myles Turner, will become free agents. In particular, Turner is expected to demand big money on the open market, and whether the Pacers are able and willing to pay him is an open question.
A recent report by ESPN’s Brian Windhorst is sure to make Indiana fans nervous. In it, he wrote that the team wants to keep Turner, but that there is one big self-imposed obstacle getting in the way.
“Team sources told me the Pacers absolutely want to keep Turner, who is closing in on his 700th game for the franchise,” Windhorst said. “But Indiana has to manage a cash crunch. They are currently projected to be about $22 million below next season’s luxury tax without Turner, and he’ll probably be looking for a significant raise on his current $19.9 million salary. The Pacers haven’t paid the luxury tax since 2005, and there are no plans to go into it next season, sources said. Keeping Turner is going to require some negotiating and some maneuvering.”
The reality of the modern NBA is that if a team is serious about winning a world championship, it will, in all likelihood, have to get into luxury tax territory. The NBA’s salary cap has become a lot more restrictive and even punitive over the past decade-plus, but it is simply something teams have to deal with in their quest to win basketball’s grand prize.
While the Pacers won three ABA championships back in the day, they have never won it all as an NBA team. In fact, they have reached the NBA Finals just once.
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Keeping Turner, who is an excellent rim-protector and 3-pointer shooter, will be expensive for them, but it is something they must do in order to go from a playoff team to a legitimate championship-caliber one.
