The Milwaukee Bucks tip off the season hosting the Wizards on Wednesday night, which might be a “blah” type of matchup for some but for Bucks fans is a welcome occasion to see Khris Middleton back in the Fiserv Forum. Middleton isn’t the only member of the championship core the Bucks will play this season. They’ll also pay a visit to Jrue Holiday, Brook Lopez, and one more erstwhile Buck and ’21 champion – call him a bonus – over the course of the 82-game schedule.
Khris Middleton, Washington Wizards, first meeting: October 22 in Milwaukee
Kha$h Money spent 11-and-a-half seasons in Milwaukee before being traded last deadline, along with 2024 first-rounder AJ Johnson, for Kyle Kuzma. Ouch, that one still hurts. A move that seemed defensible at the time remains so only through the lens of salary cap flexibility for the offseason, which the team could have accomplished by trading Middleton for any player with a smaller salary not named Kuzma.
Alas, that’s water under the bridge. All in all, Middleton averaged an efficient 17.1 points in 735 games as a Buck. He was the team’s second-leading scorer in 2021 and dropped a 40-piece in the Finals. A jersey for the rafters.
Jrue Holiday, Portland Trail Blazers, first meeting: November 24 in Milwaukee
Bucks seasons: 3. If the Bucks could do the Holiday-Dame trade over again, they probably wouldn’t pull the trigger. Oh well – if Damian Lillard is on the sidelines, they’ll see him then, too, though he will reportedly spend much of the season rehabbing his torn Achilles in Portland. The Bucks might have to wait until the game there, on March 25, to see him on the sidelines.
Back to Jrue. At 35 he’s showing signs of slowing down, but he was critical to the Bucks’ title run as a defense-minded point guard with scoring and passing chops to boot. Milwaukee doesn’t hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy without his leadership on both sides of the ball.
Brook Lopez, Los Angeles Clippers, first meeting: March 23 in Los Angeles
Bucks seasons: 7. Splash Mountain anchored the defensive interior for the Bucks’ championship squad while raining down threes on the other end. Four times in Milwaukee Lopez averaged two-plus blocks per game while averaging 12 points or more each season. Sadly, the two sides arrived at a mutually beneficial end of the road this offseason. While the Bucks went younger, Lopez joined the Clippers’ retirement-home-aged roster as one of the underrated signings of the summer.
Bonus – Pat Connaughton, Charlotte Hornets, first meeting: November 12 in Charlotte
Bucks seasons: 7. This seems early enough in the season that Connaughton should still be on the team, before the Hornets resume an offseason spent shedding veteran players without rhyme or reason at the deadline. Although Connaughton fell out of the rotation last year, he was otherwise a useful role player who earned over 20 minutes a night in five of his seven seasons in Milwaukee. His final regular season games as a Buck, he poured in 43 points against the Pistons to wrap up last year’s schedule.
This summer, the team unceremoniously dumped him in a cap-clearing trade with the Hornets in order to sign Myles Turner. Before then, he was one of the roster’s last remaining players from the title team four years ago. On the current roster, only Giannis, Thanasis, and Bobby Portis go back that far.
For More Great Wisconsin Content
Follow me on X at @ezsniper14 and follow us @WiSportsHeroics for more great content. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in Wisconsin sports, click here!
