Many NBA observers think the Milwaukee Bucks could use All-Star Khris Middleton as leverage in a historic trade deadline.
Bucks could trade for Khris Middleton with one of three possible partners
The contributions of Khris Middleton to the Milwaukee Bucks’ success over the past seven seasons cannot be overstated. In that time, he has been selected to the All-Star team three times and has been instrumental in the team’s two consecutive championship seasons.
However, if he keeps up his current level of play, he may be traded in order to boost the team’s chances of making the NBA Finals.
Some in the NBA, according to Gery Woelfel, the Bucks’ longtime beat writer, believe that the team may see the Feb. 9 trade deadline as an opportunity to get out from under the $40 million player option Khris Middleton is owed next season and improve the roster for the stretch run.
An Eastern Conference official explained to Woelfel, “Look, he’s lost a step, he’s been injured the last couple of seasons, and then there’s his age.”
There doesn’t seem to be much of a thought process involved. Since the Milwaukee Bucks just won the NBA championship two seasons ago, it seems unlikely that they would trade Khris Middleton under any circumstances. The man can’t be harmed, right?
Maybe not though. Some NBA executives even think the Bucks could trade Middleton by Thursday afternoon.
“But the Bucks could win a championship this season and trading him could jeopardize their chemistry. They would get somebody good back, for sure, but it would take some time for that player to get acclimated. So I don’t think they’d do that. It would have to make a lot of sense for them. But they are in a tough situation with him.”
Here are three teams and potential targets that could convince Milwaukee Bucks management to deviate from their typical NBA trade deadline strategies, should they decide to take the risky step of radically reshuffling their roster during the season.
- DeMar DeRozan – Chicago Bulls
- Jerami Grant – Portland Trail Blazer
- Kyle Kuzma – Washington Wizards
About Khris Middleton
| No. 22 – Milwaukee Bucks | |
|---|---|
| Position | Small forward / Shooting guard |
| League | NBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | August 12, 1991 Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
| Listed weight | 222 lb (101 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Porter-Gaud (Charleston, South Carolina) |
| College | Texas A&M (2009–2012) |
| NBA draft | 2012 / Round: 2 / Pick: 39th overall |
| Selected by the Detroit Pistons | |
| Playing career | 2012–present |
| Career history | |
| 2012–2013 | Detroit Pistons |
| 2012 | →Fort Wayne Mad Ants |
| 2013–present | Milwaukee Bucks |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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