Start with the correction. Myles Turner is not a Pacer anymore, and as of Monday, October 5, no outlet I could find has reported that the Knicks are pursuing him. Anyone selling you a Turner-to-New-York deal today is selling speculation.
Turner signed with the Milwaukee Bucks last summer on a four-year deal worth about $108.9 million. That is where he plays now, and that is where the real rumor lives.
What was actually reported
Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor wrote Monday that Turner and young big man Kel’el Ware are drawing trade chatter. O’Connor said front-office executives around the league are “chirping” about the Bucks as a team that could be targeted. He did not name a specific suitor for either player.
Earlier this summer, Marc Stein and Jake Fischer reported that Milwaukee had received trade interest in Turner but was not actively engaged in moving him. Heavy’s Sean Deveney has also linked the Lakers to Turner, citing an unnamed league executive. None of those reports mentions the Knicks.
Why the Knicks link is a stretch
The Knicks are champions, and they are also tight on money. Deveney wrote that second apron limits may force them to move salary, with Mikal Bridges named as a candidate. Adding a contract like Turner’s runs against that grain.
The player is also a question mark. Turner averaged 11.9 points and 5.3 rebounds last season, both career lows, and shot 44 percent. His deal carries a 15 percent trade kicker and runs through at least 2027-28, with a player option after that. Reports have described Milwaukee as struggling to find a taker, and Deveney wrote that if he starts well, teams might bite by the deadline.
I would not chase him if I ran the Knicks. A bounce-back is plausible, because Turner is a rare big who can shoot threes and protect the rim, and that is exactly why executives are talking. But a champion paying for a bounce-back, while worrying about the apron, is how good teams get worse.
What is unconfirmed
There is no report of talks between New York and Milwaukee. There is no report of a Knicks offer or a Knicks call. The only thing confirmed is that other teams are curious about the Bucks’ centers and that Milwaukee is not shopping Turner hard.
If that changes, it will show up from named reporters, not from a mock trade on a fan site. Until then, treat the Knicks angle as a theoretical exercise and watch how Turner plays in preseason. That is what will decide his market.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.