The Milwaukee Bucks made the move that many fans expected, but few wanted, on Wednesday. Of course, this refers to the team trading three-time All-Star forward Khris Middleton to the Washington Wizards for Kyle Kuzma. The Bucks also sent AJ Johnson to Washington and received Wisconsin native Patrick Baldwin Jr. in return as well.
Trading Middleton became something that many fans expected would happen when he took so long to get healthy following offseason ankle surgery. Unfortunately, the last few seasons have seen the former Bucks star miss more than half of the team’s games due to various knee injuries.
A mid-season trade feels like an unceremonious way for a player of Middleton’s importance to the history of the organization to end his Bucks tenure. However, there is no denying that, at the end of the day, his name is one that will be talked about often when fans look back on this era of Bucks basketball.
Khris Middleton Is One of the All-Time Greatest Milwaukee Bucks Players
“Hey Khris. We did it.” Those were some of the first words uttered by Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo after Milwaukee won the NBA Finals in the summer of 2021.
Why did Giannis, obviously the biggest star on the team, single on Middleton out of all of his teammates in that moment?
Diehard fans remember that Giannis and Middleton arrived in Milwaukee during the same offseason. In 2013, the Bucks drafted the Greek Freak, who at the time was an 18-year-old project full of potential. Middleton, who had spent his rookie season with the Detroit Pistons, was acquired via trade for Brandon Jennings.
And that first year was quite challenging for the players on the roster. The Bucks went 15-67 that year, one of the worst seasons in the history of the franchise. Indeed, few could have predicted that two of the youngest players on that roster, Giannis and Middleton, would one day elevate the franchise to the absolute top of the NBA world.
Of course, Giannis received much of the attention and glory during the Bucks’ rise to NBA Champions and perennial title contenders. But it cannot be understated how important Middleton was during that time, too.
From 2017-2022, Middleton averaged 20 points or more four times and made three All-Star teams. When Giannis went down in the Eastern Conference Finals with a hyperextended knee, many believed the Bucks were finished.
But Middleton put the team on his back, posting 26 points, 13 rebounds, and eight assists in Game Five and 32 points in Game Six to send Milwaukee to the NBA Finals.
And while many fans rightly remember Giannis and his 50 point game in Game Six of the NBA Finals to clinch the title, many forget that it was Middleton, with Milwaukee down 2-1 in the series, who poured in 40 points in Game Four to keep the Bucks alive.
Middleton ends his time in Milwaukee as the franchise’s leader in both three pointers made and attempted. Additionally, he sits third on the team’s all-time scoring list with 12,586. Only Giannis and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored more.
The simple fact of the matter is that there is no 2021 NBA Championship without Middleton. And for that, his number will one day hang in the rafters.
More Milwaukee Bucks News from Wisconsin Sports Heroics
- Bucks Fans Get Emotional as 3x All-Star Khris Middleton Traded to “a Team Going Nowhere”
- “Life Comes at You Fast;” Bucks Star Bobby Portis Reveals Devastating Reason for 6-Game Absence
- Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo Wins Huge Individual Award for 11th Time in His Career
- Bucks Receive Huge News About Bobby Portis Ahead of Game vs Hornets
- Giannis Breaks Silence on Khris Middleton Trade; “For Me It’s Bigger than Business”
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