The Milwaukee Bucks stunned the NBA today with major roster moves in an attempt to improve the team’s chances of winning a championship.
According to national media reports, including from ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Bucks are acquiring free agent center Myles Turner in a four-year $107 million deal, and are waiving star guard Damian Lillard, while stretching out the $113 that the team still owes him over the next five seasons. ESPN reporter Tim Bontemps said Lillard’s contract waiver is the biggest in the history of the NBA.
Lillard, 34, was acquired by the Bucks in a blockbuster 2023 trade. A 9-time NBA All-Star, the Bucks hoped he would help lead them to another championship. But the team lost in the first round of the NBA playoffs in both of his seasons with the team. Last season he missed significant time with a blood clot, returned for the playoffs, but then suffered a torn Achilles tendon injury, which will likely cause him to miss most if not all of the next season.
The Bucks owed Lillard about $54 million for the upcoming 2025-26 season and about $58.5 million for the 2026-27 season.
Turner, 29, was the starting center and a key contributor for the Indiana Pacers, which lost in the NBA Finals last season to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Bucks longtime starting center, Brooks Lopez, 37, is a free agent and has agreed to a new deal with the Los Angeles Clippers, according to national media reports.
Charania is also reporting today that the Bucks are trading guard Pat Connaughton and two future draft picks to the Charlotte Hornets for Serbian point guard Vasilije Micic, 31. Connaughton is co-founder of Milwaukee-based real estate development firm Three Leaf Partners.
The Bucks have also reached deals to resign four of their own free agent players from last season: guards Kevin Porter Jr. and Gary Trent Jr., forwards Bobby Portis and Taurean Prince, and center Jericho Sims, according to national media reports.
The team also reached a deal to sign veteran guard Gary Harris, 30, to a two-year deal, Charania reported.
The Bucks front office is eager to improve the team and contend for a title to keep superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo happy and committed to remaining with the team. Antetokounmpo is under contract with the Bucks for the next two seasons and has a player option for the 2027-28 season. After winning the NBA Championship in 2021, the Bucks have been unsuccessful in the playoffs, losing in the first round the last three seasons.
“The Bucks are going to have $20 million on the books (to pay Lillard) for the next five years,” Bontemps said on ESPN. “That is a lot of dead money. But that shows the level of pressure that the Milwaukee Bucks team is under to go out and get a guy in Myles Turner who can help them right now…Myles Turner was clearly the best free agent on the board (in the league) this summer…The Bucks have a completely different outlook now.”
NBA free agency officially begins on July 6, however, teams could begin negotiating with free agents, including their own, starting June 30.
