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For two seasons, the injury status of Milwaukee Bucks' franchise cornerstone Khris Middleton has been a daily question. Will he play? Will his minutes be restricted? Can he handle playing back-to-backs?
It added up to a lot of uncertainty and limited production from a player who's nearing the end of his career and earns a $31 million annual salary. Wednesday, the Bucks parted ways with Middleton in a trade with the Washington Wizards.
The main player they're getting in return, forward Kyle Kuzma, is 29-years-old and comes to the team with one NBA title as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2020 season in the bubble.
Kyle Kuzma brings younger, more athletic style to Bucks
This trade offers the potential upside of the Bucks having a younger, bigger replacement at the wing who brings athleticism that Middleton, in his injury-hobbled recent seasons, lacks.
Best case scenario is that Kuzma plays night in and night out. He's averaged 68 games played during his career.
Further, he should be able to take some of the scoring load off the team's superstars. With an average of 17.2 points per game in his career, he's a proven scorer. However, his 42% from the field and 28% on threes this year are down from his career averages.
Defensively, he offers enough size and athleticism to be a net positive. It's a big leap of faith to believe this claim. Kuzma's defensive rating of 120 over the past two seasons is woeful. However, some blame for that may fall on playing on the cellar-dwelling Wizards.
Earlier in his career, Kuzma put up better numbers on D. His defensive rating averaged 110 in his first five seasons.
Kuzma reality check – a failed chemistry experiment?
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Middleton grew up together in the league. They're close friends and have an on-court connection that borders on the telepathic. No other player reads Antetokounmpo's offensive tendencies or feeds him more easy buckets at the rim.
Middleton, despite his unreliability during the season, has a playoff pedigree that few in the league can match. Playoff Khris carried the Bucks offensively during Antetokounmpo's absence in the team's run to the 2021 NBA title. Last season, he led the team in its first-round series against the Indiana Pacers, putting up a superstar-worthy stat line of 24.7 points, 9.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game.
Fans love Middleton. He's a quiet All-Star who brought the team a title and brings energy and elite shot making whenever he plays. Don't expect quite a Mavericks fans-level mutiny. But no one loves saying goodbye to one of the best Bucks in franchise history.
The team can be forgiven for wanting to shop Middleton. But the return they're getting offers a limited enough upside that fans, and possibly some players, may not so easily forgive or forget.
Grade: C-
