Myles Turner 'Off The Trade Block' After Contract Extension, Pacers' Carlisle Says

The Indiana Pacers have no plans to send Myles Turner elsewhere after signing him to a contract extension.

"Yes, he's off the trade block," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said of the big man, per NBA reporter Marc Stein.

The comment comes after Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported Saturday that the Pacers agreed to a two-year, $58 million contract extension that will keep Turner with the team through the 2024-25 campaign.

It seemed for some time that Turner's tenure with the Pacers may not last long after the team previously traded players such as Domantas Sabonis, Caris LeVert and Malcolm Brogdon. He was also linked to the Los Angeles Lakers a number of times, but a trade never materialized.

The Lakers speculation even reached a point that Turner said the Purple and Gold should "take a very hard look" at acquiring him during an October podcast appearance with ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Yet it appears he will remain with the team that selected him with a first-round pick in the 2015 NBA draft.

The 26-year-old is enjoying an impressive season with averages of 17.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game while shooting 54.4 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from deep. He is hitting a career-best percentage from three-point range, which has allowed him to expand his offensive game and work in different halfcourt sets.

Turner has always been known as a defensive presence and led the league in blocks per game in 2018-19 (2.7) and 2020-21 (3.4), but the strides he has made on offense make him an even more dangerous player as a Pacers cornerstone following this deal.

Indiana is still somewhat in rebuilding mode, but it now knows it will have Turner and Tyrese Haliburton as two pillars for the immediate future. Throw in rookie Bennedict Mathurin, and there is plenty to like for a young team that is challenging for a play-in tournament spot this season.

The Pacers are 24-28 and a half-game behind the Washington Wizards and Chicago Bulls in the race for spots in that play-in tournament.