The Milwaukee Bucks are cutting ties with their injured starting point guard in order to sign one of the top free agent centres on the market.

The Bucks are waiving Damian Lillard and then stretching the remaining $113million on his contract to create room to acquire Myles Turner, according to Shams Charania of ESPN.

Turner's deal, which was agreed on Tuesday, is for four years and $107million, plus a player option for the 2028-29 season and a full 15 per cent trade kicker.

Lillard, meanwhile, is expected to miss all of the 2025-26 NBA season while recovering from a torn Achilles sustained in Game 4 of Milwaukee's first-round series loss to Turner's Indiana Pacers.

Breaking: The Milwaukee Bucks are waiving Damian Lillard and stretching the remaining $113 million on his contract in order to acquire Myles Turner, sources tell @ShamsCharania.

Lillard's two seasons in Milwaukee come to an end as he rehabilitates a torn Achilles tendon.

Get… pic.twitter.com/UXR6xXGM75

— ESPN (@espn) July 1, 2025

Turner is coming off another solid season in helping Indiana reach the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

In 72 regular-season games, the 29-year-old averaged 15.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and a career-best 2.2 made 3-pointers per game. His average of 2.00 blocks ranked second in the NBA.

Selected 11th overall by Indiana in the 2015 draft, Turner was the longest-tenured Pacer at 10 seasons.

Lillard spent the past two years in Milwaukee after playing for the Portland Trail Blazers for the previous 11 seasons, since they drafted him sixth overall in 2012.

He was named to his ninth All-Star Game this past season with averages of 24.9 points, 7.1 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 3.4 made 3-pointers, though he missed the 14 final regular-season games and the play-off opener because of deep vein thrombosis in his right calf. In his third game back, he then ruptured his left Achilles tendon.

A seven-time All-NBA selection, the 34-year-old Lillard has career averages of 25.1 points, 6.7 assists and 4.3 boards in 900 regular-season games.

He will now be free to sign with any team he chooses.

The Bucks signed Bobby Portis to a three-year, $44million contract on Sunday, but they lost Brook Lopez to the Los Angeles Clippers when free agency opened Monday.