indiana pacers

Myles Turner has agreed to a four-year deal to join the Milwaukee Bucks, who waived nine-time All-Star Damian Lillard to make the acquisition happen, a person with knowledge of the moves told the Associated Press on Tuesday.

Turner is agreeing to a deal that ends with a player option, after spending the entirety of his first 10 seasons with the Indiana Pacers, who went to the NBA Finals this past season. The remaining $112.6 million owed to Lillard will be paid out over the next five seasons via the NBA’s stretch provision, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because neither move was announced by the clubs.

ESPN, which first reported the plan by the Pacers and Bucks, said Turner agreed to a contract worth $107 million.

In both cases, Achilles tendon injuries played a role in the surprising moves.

Indiana expects to be without star guard Tyrese Haliburton for the entirety of next season because he ruptured his Achilles tendon in Game 7 of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder while playing through what was diagnosed as a calf strain. Earlier in the playoffs, Lillard ruptured his Achilles tendon while playing for Milwaukee in Round 1 against Indiana.

Lillard is likely to miss most, if not all, of next season. He will be free to sign with anyone he chooses, and teams could simply sign him now, give him a chance to continue his recovery and do so with hope that the seven-time All-NBA selection is ready to go by the start of the 2026-27 season.

“This is an opportunity for Damian to stay home to continue his rehabilitation, take time to decide where he wants to play next, while still being paid his entire contract,” said Aaron Goodwin, Lillard’s agent.

Turner has averaged 14.1 points and 6.8 rebounds in his 10 seasons with the Pacers, who had to make a decision this summer about whether to surpass the luxury tax threshold with the knowledge that Haliburton likely will not play this coming season.

Lillard, who turns 35 this month, has averaged 25.1 points and 6.7 assists in 900 regular-season games over 13 seasons — the first 11 with Portland.

The Bucks lost Brook Lopez to the Clippers when free agency opened Monday.

SGA gets extension

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder have agreed on a record-setting four-year, $285-million contract extension that would give him the highest single-season average salary in NBA history, a person with knowledge of the agreement said Tuesday.

He is coming off a season when he became the fourth player in NBA history to win MVP, Finals MVP and a scoring title while playing for a champion in the same season. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it once, Michael Jordan then did it four times and Shaquille O’Neal was the last entrant into that fraternity until Gilgeous-Alexander joined the club.

Schröder to Kings

Veteran point guard and German Olympic team member Dennis Schröder has agreed to join the Sacramento Kings on a three-year deal, the third of which is not fully guaranteed, a person with knowledge of that agreement said Tuesday. ESPN reported the total value of the deal is $45 million.

Schröder, who is entering his 13th NBA season, is joining his 10th club — and ninth in the last seven years. He spent the first five seasons of his career with Atlanta, then has been with Oklahoma City, the Lakers (twice), Boston, Houston, Toronto, Brooklyn, Golden State and Detroit at various times over the last seven seasons.

He has averaged 13.9 points and 4.9 assists in 849 regular-season games.

Reynolds writes for the Associated Press.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander puzzled people when he debuted his signature Converse shoe during All-Star weekend.

Converse? Where Chuck Taylor retros reside? Sure, Gilgeous-Alexander — known simply as SGA — was a rapidly improving player on a rapidly improving Oklahoma City Thunder team. But him as the face of a fading performance sneaker outfit didn’t compute.

Fast forward to the NBA Finals. Moments after the Thunder’s 103-91 Game 7 victory over the Indiana Pacers, SGA ascended the stage to accept his most valuable player trophy with a golden colorway of his signature shoe hanging from his neck.

Then on Tuesday, SGA doubled down, enjoying the championship parade with “Trophy Gold” Converse SHAI 001s on his feet.

Who would have thought Oklahoma City would become a flash point of foot fashion. And during Paris Fashion Week no less, when big brands from Nike and New Balance to Adidas and Asics introduce new product lines.

Nothing enhances marketing like winning, and SGA is the undisputed NBA victor of the season. He’s the anointed MVP of the regular season as well as the Finals, leading the league in scoring and doing it all with an impish grin and requisite humility.

As creative director of Converse, the shoe fits.

“I’m able to essentially do whatever I want to do with the shoe. How it’s going to play out, the ball is really in my court,” SGA told Boardroom TV in December. “It’s something that I could imagine every athlete would want to ask for, to try and tell their story and show themselves to the world how they want to do it. To have complete control, it’s a blessing.”

But can SGA elevate Converse from the bargain rack? His SHAI 001s aren’t grandpa’s Chuck Taylor All-Stars, those classic shoes of timeless design consisting of a white toe cap over cotton canvas adorned with a distinctive All-Star logo.

They made a comeback last year when presidential candidate Kamala Harris wore them but Converse recorded year-over-year sales declines of 15% or more in each of the last three fiscal quarters.

Chuck Taylor was a semi-pro basketball player and traveling salesman for the Converse Rubber Shoe Company in the early 1920s when he designed the shoe. By the 1950s nearly everyone on a basketball court wore them, but they declined in popularity by the end of the 1970s before enjoying a comeback as nostalgic casual footwear.

A few years after going through bankruptcy, Converse was swallowed up by Nike in 2003 for $305 million. So, technically, SGA is just another massively paid shill for Nike, standing in line behind Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Tiger Woods, Selena Williams, Cristiano Ronaldo and Rory McIlroy.

But by aligning himself with an all-but-forgotten underdog of a brand, SGA has an opportunity to author a chapter in the signature shoe wars that could rival his already substantial accomplishments on the court.

There is one problem. The Shai 001 won’t be available for sale until the fall. Converse can’t capitalize on OKC and SGA fans wanting to rock the golden “butter” footwear of their new hero, and wanting them NOW.

A limited release, at least, did take place in downtown Oklahoma City for two hours Tuesday before the parade.

Aligning with a current player always involves an element of risk for a shoe company. Converse learned this firsthand in 1997 when it dropped Latrell Sprewell as an endorser and spokesman after the NBA star choked coach P.J. Carlesimo during a Golden State Warriors practice.

And the risk isn’t always about misbehavior. Puma unveiled the Hali 1, its first shoe in collaboration with the Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton on the day this year’s NBA Finals began. Haliburton tore an Achilles tendon in Game 7 and will miss most, if not all, of next season.

So Converse must continue to be quick on its feet to capitalize on its so far fortunate choice of SGA to represent the brand. He’s only 26 and displays leadership and other qualities of a role model in addition to otherworldly hoop skills.

Can Converse become relevant again in the performance space? Can SGA become as linked to the brand as Chuck Taylor? First the shoes must hit the market. One step at a time.

“I wanted to create something new,” SGA told Boardroom TV. “I wanted to bring Converse into my world and have Converse through my lens.”

Alex Caruso is an NBA champion!

Of course, Caruso already had a ring before he and the Oklahoma City Thunder closed out the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night. His first one came with the Lakers after the slightly shortened 2020 season and a postseason played entirely in the NBA bubble in Orlando during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Now I got a real one,” Caruso told reporters following the Thunder’s 103-91 victory over the Pacers. “Now nobody can say anything.”

He was joking, of course, making reference to the trolls who try to diminish the Lakers’ title from five years ago because of the unique circumstances under which it was won.

That Lakers team had an average age of nearly 29 and was led by LeBron James, who was 35 years old upon winning his fourth NBA championship.

This Thunder team is led by league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is 26 and — like the rest of his Oklahoma City teammates, except for Caruso — hadn’t won an NBA title until now. Their average age is 25.68 years, making them the youngest NBA champion team since the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers.

“I think just because of the way the team is constructed now versus the team I had in 2020, it was much harder with this team just because of the experience [level],” Caruso, 31, said. “… I think through the playoffs, this team grew up and learned on the fly. Most teams have to learn through losses and learn though defeat, and I think this team learned through success. And it’s a unique capability to be able to do that for 21- to 27-year-old kids.

“For me, I’ve seen greats do it, so I knew the way, I knew the mindset. But to see these guys do it, man, it’s really cool to see it in person, and I’m so happy for the guys just to be able to figure it out and be able to get this done.”

Caruso was a valuable player off the bench en route to both of his NBA championships, averaging 6.5 points per game in 2020 and 9.2 this season. He scored 20 points in three different games during the 2025 season, including twice during the Finals; his high score during the 2020 campaign was 16 points.

He signed with the Chicago Bulls as a free agent during the 2021 offseason and was traded to Oklahoma City for guard Josh Giddey last summer. Caruso’s previous championship experience was also valuable after Sunday’s game, when Caruso had to give his teammates a crash course on popping champagne to celebrate the victory.

“We didn’t do it all at the same time until like the third try,” Caruso said of popping the corks. “I tried my best when we got in there, I was like, ‘All right, let’s get a head count, let’s make sure everyone’s here before we do the first one.’ And through the learning experience of taking the foil off, undoing the metal and having the cork ready, there was like three or four guys that popped their corks. And then it happened again. …

“We went through the process a couple times and eventually we got everybody on the same page. But, yeah, it was a good first try. We’ll get some rest, reset, try to go again next year and see if we can do it again, and we’ll be better.”

OKLAHOMA CITY — Game 5 was starting to look like Game 1 all over again. Oklahoma City, at home, takes a huge lead. Indiana comes roaring back in the fourth quarter.

Indiana won that one.

This time, the Thunder crafted a different ending — and a 3-2 lead in the NBA Finals was their reward.

Jalen Williams scored a career playoff-high 40 points, MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 31 and the Thunder moved one win from a title by beating the Pacers 120-109 on Monday night.

“We’re learning,” said Williams, whose previous playoff best was 34.

It was the 10th — and by far, the biggest — time the Thunder stars combined for more than 70 points in a game. Williams was 14 of 24 from the field, and Gilgeous-Alexander added 10 assists.

“It wasn’t a perfect game at all and there’s a lot of room for growth,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “But our improvement from Game 4 to Game 5 was critical.”

Pascal Siakam had 28 points for Indiana, which will host Game 6 on Thursday night. TJ McConnell added 18 for the Pacers, who whittled an 18-point deficit down to two in the fourth — then watched the Thunder pull away again, and for good.

“It kind of went away from us,” Siakam said. “But the fight was there.”

It was, but now everything favors the Thunder.

Teams that win Game 5 of an NBA Finals that was tied at 2-2 have gone on to win the series 23 times in 31 previous opportunities, or 74%. And teams with a 3-2 lead in the finals have won 40 times in 49 previous opportunities, or 82%.

But Game 5 was not easy. Far from it.

Down by 18 late in the second quarter, the Pacers — the comeback kings of these playoffs, with as many wins in this postseason from 15 points down or more (five) than the rest of the league has combined, including in Game 1 of this series — did what they do, chipping away. And they did it with Tyrese Haliburton reduced to basically playing decoy on offense because of a leg issue that he aggravated in the first quarter.

“He’s not 100%,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “It’s pretty clear.”

Led by McConnell, who scored 13 points in just under seven minutes of the third, the Pacers got within five late in that quarter.

Then, Siakam went to work — a pair of free throws with 9:19 left got Indiana within four, then a three-pointer about a minute later made it 95-93. In the play-by-play era of the NBA, starting with the 1997 playoffs, teams with leads of 15 points or more in the finals were 80-9.

Make that 81-9 now, and the Thunder are one win away from giving Oklahoma City its first NBA title.

“That was honestly the same exact game as Game 1,” Williams said. “Learning through these finals, that’s what makes a team good.”

One more win, and his team will be certified as great.

INDIANAPOLIS — Game on the line, season quite possibly on the line, the Oklahoma City Thunder had only one place to turn.

They went to the MVP.

And Shai Gilgeous-Alexander delivered, scoring 15 of his 35 points in the final 4:38, capping Oklahoma City’s rally from a 10-point, second-half deficit and sealing a 111-104 win over the Indiana Pacers 111-104 on Friday night to tie the NBA Finals at two games apiece.

“He definitely showed who he is tonight,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.

It was all SGA for OKC down the stretch. The Thunder closed the game on a 16-7 run; he had all but one of those points.

“We played with desperation to end the game,” Gilgeous-Alexander said, “and that’s why we won.”

Jalen Williams added 27, Alex Caruso had 20 and Chet Holmgren finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Thunder. They did it the hard way — with a season-low three three-pointers, and no assists from Gilgeous-Alexander for the first time all season.

Pascal Siakam scored 20 for Indiana, which got 18 from Tyrese Haliburton and 17 from Obi Toppin.

Game 5 of the series — now essentially a best-of-three — is at Oklahoma City on Monday night.

“This kind of a challenge is going to have extreme highs and extreme lows,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “This is a low right now and we’re going to have to bounce back from it.”

The Thunder basically saved their realistic chance at winning the title. Teams with a 3-1 series lead in the NBA Finals have gone on to win the championship 37 times in 38 past chances. The Pacers looked well on their way to being the 39th team with such an edge, before Gilgeous-Alexander saved the day.

“We knew it when we woke up this morning; 3-1 is a lot different than 2-2 going back home,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.

The Pacers came out flying, scoring 20 points in the first 4:59 — only the second time all season the Thunder gave up so many so quickly. They led by as many as nine early, but were unable to pull away.

And things got chippy for the first time in the series: Toppin was called for a Flagrant 1 on Caruso midway through the second quarter, then Toppin was the recipient of a Flagrant 1 from Lu Dort just before the half. The Pacers closed on a 15-6 run, taking a 60-57 lead into the break.

Toppin’s baseline dunk late in the third put Indiana up 86-76, its first double-digit lead of the series coming late in the 15th quarter of the series. Back came OKC: A 13-3 run tied the game early in the fourth at 89, the first of a handful of those down the stretch.

Tied at 91. Tied at 95. Tied at 97. And, finally, the lead: Gilgeous-Alexander’s step-back with 2:23 left put the Thunder up 104-103, their first lead of the second half.

They kept it the rest of the way.

“We wanted to win,” Siakam said. “I thought we played well enough for some stretches … but unfortunately, it didn’t happen.”

Reynolds writes for the Associated Press.

OKLAHOMA CITY — This has been Oklahoma City’s formula all season: Lose one game, respond in the next.

That’s exactly what the Thunder did in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points, Alex Caruso added 20 off the bench and the Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers 123-107 on Sunday night to tie these finals at one game apiece.

Jalen Williams scored 19, Aaron Wiggins had 18 and Chet Holmgren finished with 15 for the Thunder. It was the franchise’s first finals game win since the opener of the 2012 series against Miami.

“We did some things good tonight. We did some things bad,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We’ve got to be able to get better and be ready for Game 3.”

Tyrese Haliburton scored 17 for Indiana, which erased a 15-point, fourth-quarter deficit in Game 1 but never made a push on Sunday. Myles Turner scored 16 and Pascal Siakam added 15 for the Pacers, the first team since Miami in 2013 to not have a 20-point scorer in the first two games of the finals.

Game 3 is Wednesday at Indianapolis, in what will be the first finals game in that city in 25 years.

“A bad first half, obviously, was a big problem,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “And we just played poorly. A little better in the second half. But you can’t be a team that’s reactive and expect to be successful or have consistency.”

Gilgeous-Alexander’s first basket of the night was a history-maker: It gave him 3,000 points on the season, including the regular season and playoffs. And later in Game 2, he passed New York’s Jalen Brunson (514) as the leading overall scorer in these playoffs.

But the real milestone for the MVP came a couple hours later, when he and most everybody else on the Thunder got a finals win for the first time.

A 19-2 run in the second quarter turned what was a six-point game into a 23-point Thunder lead. It might have seemed wobbly a couple of times — an immediate 10-0 rebuttal by the Pacers made it 52-39, and Indiana was within 13 again after Andrew Nembhard’s layup with 7:09 left in the third — but the Thunder lead was never in serious doubt.

“They did a good job being disruptive,” Siakam said. “They got out in transition. … They were super aggressive, which is what they do.”

With the noise level in the building often topping 100 decibels — a chain saw is 110 dB, for comparison purposes — the Thunder did what they’ve done pretty much all season. They came off a loss, this time a 111-110 defeat in Game 1, and blew somebody out as their response.

Including the NBA Cup title game, which doesn’t count in any standings, the Thunder are now 18-2 this season when coming off a loss. Of those 18 wins, 12 have been by double digits.

“That’s a long 48 hours when you lose Game 1 like that, coming into Game 2,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “The guys did a great job of just focusing on what we needed to do to stack to a win tonight. That’s how we got it.”