Many thought Myles Turner's decision to leave the Indiana Pacers for the Milwaukee Bucks last summer would come back to bite him. And so far, it has.
Things don't look great in Indiana right now as the team is 13-36 (which is the third-worst record in the NBA), and is struggling massively without Tyrese Haliburton on the court. But despite all of that, things might be even worse for the Bucks.
Milwaukee is 18-29 on the season and is in the midst of a five-game losing streak. The team currently owns the No. 12 seed in the East, meaning they wouldn't even be in the Play-In Tournament if the season ended today.
And as if that wasn't bad enough, it's looking like Giannis Antetokounmpo's days with the Bucks may finally be coming to an end after months of rumors and speculation.
The Pacers may be hanging out near the bottom of the NBA standings, but they at least still have a bright future. Haliburton should be back next season (and could have a potential franchise player alongside him upon his return), and the team is still consisting of talented players, a great coaching staff, and an elite front office.
Sure, Turner got his bag last summer, and it's hard to fault him for that. But if he could have a do-over, maybe he would've stuck around in Indiana, regardless of what his next contract was going to look like.
Myles Turner's offseason decision looks worse by the day
I'm not going to act like Turner's decision only hurt him and nobody else. Despite all of his flaws (which were on full display during the NBA Finals last year), the Texas native is still a great fit in this Pacers system, and they haven't confidently been able to replace him yet.
Jay Huff, who they traded for after Turner's departure, has been close. But he's still way too inconsistent and doesn't have a high enough ceiling for the Pacers to trust him full-time.
Maybe Indiana is happy it didn't pay its former center the four-year, 108.9 million contract he got from the Bucks in the summer. But that doesn't mean the team is completely happy he's gone. They still need to find an upgrade at center, especially as they look to re-enter the title picture as soon as next season.
Regardless, the Pacers are in a far better situation to compete for a championship for the long haul than the Bucks are, which is an ironic twist Turner may be coming to terms with.