No Middleton Tomorrow vs Chicago
It seems clear the Milwaukee Bucks are not going to be able to go far without a healthy scorer to pair alongside Giannis and Jrue. That would especially be true if Milwaukee can not generate offense outside of Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Khris Middleton has been that guy for Milwaukee. But injuries continue to derail his season.
The Milwaukee’s forward told jsonline.com writer Jim Owczarski that, “Just weird stuff that it seemed like really hasn’t happened to me before in my career that ended up dinging me a couple of times. Tried to play through it. In Houston I could never get myself going so I had to pull myself after that game after I rolled my ankle, too. Then as it went on everything just kind of kept getting worse. So, it was kind of like a group, collective decision to sit me down and let these things heal properly.” Even with Middleton playing so little this season, Milwaukee has a 99% chance to make the playoffs. But could anyone truly expect them to be able to win a championship?
Middleton is out vs Chicago
The NBA Injury report is out and so is Middleton. He will have missed all five games of the Bucks road trip. Right now the Bucks have lost three in a row. But because of a strong start the Bucks still have a good record at 22-11. Milwaukee takes on the 14-19 Chicago Bulls Wednesday Night, right off State Street in Downtown Chicago at the United Center.
Jrue Holiday is also on that report and is listed as probable with a thigh bruise. By all accounts everyone seems to expect him to play.
Of course no one expects Khris to play injured. But if he continues to be unable to go for much longer, should Milwaukee press to make a move to add that third scoring option?
Related: Bucks vs Bulls Preview
Middleton’s Future
Of course what clouds everything is that Middleton is playing on the final year of his contract.
According to SportTrac, Middleton has a player option for next season and can opt-in at $40 million dollars. This is the last year of a five-year, $177 Million dollar contract he signed. Then after that he does become an unrestricted free agent.
As a point of comparison rookie first round pick MarJon Beauchamp who has been tasked to pick up some of Middleton’s lost production is making $2 million dollars this season.
Possible Trades?
If Middleton comes back in a few weeks and starts playing lights out again, any and all trade rumors will go away. But because Giannis Antetokounmpo is in that window of amazing play, the Bucks are in “win-now” mode.
Could Milwaukee trade for Trae Young?
Is there someone else Milwaukee could be looking at?
Comment below and let us know what you think about Middleton, his status and his impact on the team.
Follow me on Twitter at @authorrudylb and check out my other writings at www.rudylb.com. Follow us at @WiSportsHeroics! For all things Wisconsin sports, click here! Also, check out our merch store for some amazing WSH merchandise!
