It’s going to be a very busy Friday for the Milwaukee Bucks as NBA free agency officially opens. While most teams will be busy trying to recruit some fresh faces into their squad, the top priority for Milwaukee will be keeping their key players on the team. This comes in the form of Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez, who according to NBA rumors, are going to garner a lot of attention once they officially enter free agency on Friday.
Given what these two studs bring to the table, it comes as no surprise that teams from around the league have been keeping tabs on their situation with the Bucks. Middleton, in particular, has now reportedly piqued the interest of the Sacramento Kings, as they look to add some wing power alongside their star duo of De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis.
Kings Expected To Test Bucks’ Resolve For Khris Middleton
Khris Middleton turned down a guaranteed $40.4 million with the Bucks next season in order to test the waters of NBA free agency. That’s a whole lot of money to turn your back on, which only means that the 31-year-old is confident that he could get a better deal — be it with the Bucks or elsewhere.
According to Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports, the Kings are “expected to make a play” on Middleton once he officially hits free agency. This could mean they have a bid in excess of $40 million per season lined up for the three-time All-Star — a figure that Milwaukee might be hard-pressed to match. Either way, with the Kings proving to be a nuisance in what could have been a straightforward path for Middleton back to the Bucks, it now appears that this new development will work in Khris’ favor in that it could potentially force Milwaukee to make a better offer to retain his services.
One Last Ride For Khris Middleton
Middleton’s production fell off a cliff last season and it has a lot to do with the injuries he had to deal with throughout the campaign. In 33 games played last year, the 6-foot-7 swingman averaged just 15.1 points on 43.6 percent shooting, to go along with 4.2 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per contest. He drained 1.5 triples per game on a 31.5-percent clip. It goes without saying that these are a far cry from his production rate over the previous years.
You also have to note that at 31, Middleton isn’t getting any younger. The contract he is about to sign could very well be the last big-money deal of his career. As such, you can’t really blame him for trying to find the best possible offer out there. It’s only a shame for him that he had one of the worst seasons of his career in what turned out to be a contract year.
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