INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner is tired of the semi-regular transfer rumors.

In recent years, the 6-foot-4 former Texas star has been linked to a new contract every February and summer, but almost every time, Turner has said he would rather stay with the team that drafted him in 2015 and help win a championship.

Now he could get three more chances to make his dream come true. On Monday, after a month of negotiations, Turner signed a two-year contract extension that will take him through the end of the 2024-25 season – and perhaps finally put an end to all the distracting speculation.

“It’s definitely a relief to know that you have some security and can just play,” he said after the press conference. “I’ve been through that (the transfer rumors) my whole career. But I wanted to be here in Indy.”

With the two-year contract extension and a renegotiated contract for the remainder of the season, Turner will receive an additional $60 million, putting him under the Pacers’ salary cap.

Indiana was under the salary cap this season, a situation that would have required additional payouts anyway. With the Pacers now under contract for the next two years and all five of this year’s starters under contract for next season, they now have even more flexibility heading into the Feb. 9 trade deadline and the offseason.

A major factor in Turner’s decision to sign now rather than test the free agent market this summer was that he had returned to his original position following last February’s trade that sent All-Star forward Domantas Sabonis to Sacramento for point guard Tyrese Haliburton.

Haliburton’s trade and presence have contributed to The 26-year-old gymnast is having the best season of his eight-year careerHe averages 17.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks while shooting 54.4% from the field and 39.3% from 3-point range. He is still one of the NBA’s best shooters.

“We as a team have been desperately waiting for this day,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “In the last year and a half since he returned to his natural position, the five, we have seen incredible things.”

Still, the rumors persisted, with the Los Angeles Lakers at the center of recent speculation since last summer. Turner fueled the discussion in October when ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowksi asked Turner to weigh in on a potential deal involving himself and two potential draft picks.

“If I were the Lakers, I would look at this very closely in the situation you are in,” he said.

That possibility now seems to be gone, although Turner is aware that there are no guarantees in the NBA.

In July, the Pacers signed Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton with the highest offer in league history: $133 million for four years, only to watch the Suns quickly outbid the offer.

The move, Pritchard said, sparked “100 conversations” between himself and Austin Brown, Turner’s agent, as the two sides negotiated. Pritchard declined to provide details of those talks.

Since then, things seem to have changed.

Pritchard believes the developing connection between Turner and Haliburton will provide a stronger foundation for a franchise that has all five regular players under contract until next season and most of his key rotation players are under contract through 2024–25.

And now that he has more certainty about his future, Pritchard believes Turner will continue to be successful.

“It’s disappointing because a transfer rumor can start when a team calls you about a player and you somehow get an offer,” Pritchard said. “It hurts players, it really does. Last week we had two players come to us and ask, ‘Am I going to be traded?'”

But as he walked into the lobby of Gainbridge Fieldhouse, filled with Pacers teammates, coaches and staff, a PA system blaring calls from Turner’s career, and a large video wall displaying a slideshow of some of Turner’s favorite moments, the Indianapolis Colts’ longest-tenured player seemed to feel right at home again, when he was selected 11th in the draft and it all began.

“I think it made it easier for me to get the full-time position at the five. That was definitely what I was looking for,” Turner said. “Given the situation I’m in now, where I’m getting more playing time at the five, that was one of the main things I was looking for.”

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