The core of the future? The first question for the Pacers offseason!

From the perspective of fans, most Pacers fans should be paying attention to the home team's finals journey, and the players are basically devoted to the team's championship momentum.

But when we turn our perspective to the team's management, it may not be that simple. The most critical focus should be on center Miles Turner. The management must be prepared to actively grab the center player at the beginning of the free market.

For a team like the Pacers that do not want to cross the luxury tax threshold, it is definitely not an easy task for them to retain Turner. As long as they choose to renew the space center to stay with the team, the team's salary will basically break through the first luxury tax threshold. The main problem now is whether they can avoid the second level of luxury tax penalty line.

Or, if the expense is to maintain a championship lineup, will the team owner be willing to pay for the Pacers? From Turner's perspective, his agency team will undoubtedly strive to win him a contract that is much higher than his annual salary of $20.5 million this season. Referring to the contract he signed with the Pacers before, it is definitely within the value range, but this is definitely not the situation the agent team hopes that their players under their own goal have always faced. Their primary purpose is to maximize the players' market value.

There is no doubt that if the Pacers want to continue to retain their core lineup in the future, they will inevitably need to expand their salary range. From the team's perspective, everyone knows that Halliburton is the Pacers' future core face, and the newly promoted Eastern Conference MVP Siakam is also the team's unshakable second core. Therefore, even though many fans have doubts about Turner, there is an important argument that we must admit that this modern center's playing style is really suitable for the offensive points of the team holding the ball.

From the offensive end, Turner has transformed into the best shooting center player in the league this season. He averaged 5.5 three-pointers per game this season, and his shooting percentage can reach 39.6%, reaching his new high three-point shooting percentage in his career.

Although judging from the content of the game, Turner seems to have more opportunities to make his mobile phone, which also means that his three-point advantage may be improved in the future. Of course, in this offensive starting lineup, Turner is not the first option on the offensive end. So even if you maintain the efficiency this season, it is basically not a problem.

And better, for 29-year-old Turner, he is basically in his early 30s within the next contract period, and he is still the peak age of a player in the vision. His shooting ability will not show any obvious signs of decline, and he has even a chance to continue to improve.

As for the defensive end, Turner has always been the pillar of the Pacers' inside penalty area. As the two-time blocking king, although his defense switching ability is not particularly outstanding, his excellent athletic ability is enough to allow him to deal with most counter-round rounds. As long as he continues to provide a franchise threat, he will remain the core of his defensiveness in the next few seasons. His defense may decline slightly due to some unexpected factors, but this basically does not affect his contract value. In addition, Pacers also need to face a reality, and they are almost unlikely to find a replacement candidate of the same level through draft or free market reinforcement. Even after the team reached the finals this season, Turner's bargaining chips will inevitably increase greatly. If the Pacers choose Turner to leave the team as a free agent in this situation, it is undoubtedly something that Pacers fans will absolutely not accept.

So, when the Pacers competed in the finals, the problem that belonged to them in the 2025 offseason had already arisen: What will be the next expected contract for Miles Turner?

Combining the above factors, we can be confidently predicted that Turner can get the most ideal price for his team. The Pacers are likely to try to lower the contract length a little, but in the face of the finals, the team really doesn't see much of the negotiation capital. If they can issue a five-year, 150 million contract extension, it will be a very cost-effective price.

But from the assumption that the Pacers won the championship, the team management may still need to add a little more chip to be safe, so the reasonable estimate of the price we finally gave is 160 million in five years.

For both the players and the team, such a sum and price and age can be considered a win-win negotiation. For the Pacers, considering the future changes in the Eastern Conference, they can also focus on this core team and maintain the top-level combat power level in the next few years.