Earlier this week, Indiana Pacers fans found out that their team will be without Tyrese Haliburton for all of next season. This only serves to add insult to injury when we consider the Pacers will now be without their former man in the middle now as well. Myles Turner will be wearing a Milwaukee Bucks uniform next season, and Indiana is in desperate need of another center.
Being without Turner would be difficult enough to work through. But when paired with what's guaranteed to be a season-long absence for Haliburton, it is hard to ignore the fact that this team could now be facing a major identity crisis heading into next year.
Indiana still has a solid collection of wings and scorers, and they will likely look to expand the role of Jarace Walker and others as the team regroups. However, no internal addition is going to fix what Turner gave them. He was their anchor on defense, the team’s longest-tenured player, and one of the few centers in the league who could reliably block shots and stretch the floor.
The Pacers have tried on multiple occasions in recent years to find secondary options behind Turner, whether it was Isaiah Jackson, Jalen Smith, or Goga Bitadze before he left town. None of those players were ever able to grow into the type of contributor Indiana needed alongside Haliburton.
The loss of Turner will be huge for the Pacers
That is what made Turner so valuable in the first place. He allowed Indiana to cover for mistakes on the perimeter while opening the floor on the other end. With him gone, the Pacers no longer have that luxury.
Kevin Pritchard and the front office will likely explore options on the trade market and potentially test the waters in restricted free agency. But the problem they are going to run into is time. This is not a team that can afford to spend half the season figuring things out. Not with Haliburton already sidelined and other contenders in the East looking stronger than ever. It is going to take a clear and immediate answer at the five to stay afloat, and so far, Indiana does not appear to have one.
Turner may not have been the flashiest name in the league, but his value to the Pacers was undeniable. He kept their defense respectable, served as a leader in the locker room, and never demanded the spotlight. Now that he is gone, Indiana’s path back to contention feels much less certain.
The Pacers still have young talent and a good foundation once Haliburton returns, but unless they can resolve the center position quickly, they will spend this season treading water and wondering why they couldn't have found a solution sooner.