The Milwaukee Bucks have traded Khris Middleton to the Washington Wizards for Kyle Kuzma.
As part of the deal, guard AJ Johnson and a draft pick are also heading to the nation’s capital, while forward Patrick Baldwin Jr and a second-round pick.
Middleton, along with Giannis Antetokounmpo, was the longest-tenured Milwaukee Buck joined the team as an under-the-radar addition in the trade that sent Brandon Jennings to Detroit for Brandon Knight. The 39th overall in the 2012 NBA Draft turned himself into a standout player, becoming a three-time All-Star and helping the Bucks hoist the 2021 NBA championship. Unfortunately, since becoming an NBA champ, Middleton has been square in the crosshairs of the injury bug, missing the team’s second-round loss to the Celtics in 2022. He has appeared in just 88 games of a possible 164 over the last two seasons ( 33 games in 2022-23 and 55 in 2023-24). Offseason ankle procedures have limited Middleton to just 23 contests this season, averaging 12.6 poins, 3.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 23.2 minutes per contest. Middleton averaged 17.1, 4.8 rebounds 4.0 assists, and 1.2 steals in 735 games as a Buck.
Kyle Kuzma helped the Lakers win the 2020 NBA Championship and was the LeMedia’s previous whipping boy before being traded for the LeSychophants’ next target of blame, Russell Westbrook. He was coming off back-to-back seasons of averaging over 20 points per contest but has seen a dip in his overall production, averaging 15.2 points and career-low efficiency numbers from the field (.420), downtown (.281), and from the charity stripe (.602). Milwaukee hopes the change of scenery can help him revert to his form from the previous campaign.
