When the Milwaukee Bucks decided to trade Jrue Holiday away for Damian Lillard prior to the start of the 2023-24 season, it showed that the front office had little room for sentiment amid their ongoing quest to surround Giannis Antetokounmpo with the best possible roster. And with the Bucks struggling a bit to start the 2024-25 season, it was only a matter of time before they decided to make some changes yet again — this time trading one of the most important players in the history of the franchise, Khris Middleton, to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Kyle Kuzma.
The past few seasons have been quite rough for Middleton on the injury front; this past offseason, he underwent surgeries on both ankles to help get his body right for the long haul. But the Bucks felt like they were racing up against a ticking clock, and they could wait no longer for Middleton to get his footing back — much to the disappointment of the 33-year-old forward who’s always given it his all for the franchise.
“They leaned on me in a lot of different ways. Giannis goes down? They counted on me to take them to the next round. Things like that. Giannis is in and out or we need a big shot or we need whatever, they counted on me many times. And I guess they couldn’t count on me,” Middleton said in an interview with Eric Nehm of The Athletic.
“I’ve had many opportunities. I mean, that’s the way I’ve kind of looked at it. My time ran out. Simple as that.”
An ode to Khris Middleton’s successful Bucks stint
Khris Middleton is a Bucks legend through and through; picked up in the Brandon Jennings-Brandon Knight swap back in 2013, the 6’8″ forward emerged as one of the most consistent shot-creators on the wing for nearly a decade, and the Bucks relied on him quite a lot to create offense. And it worked; they won the championship in 2021, with Middleton nailing a tough midrange jumpshot to ice the game in Game 6 of that series.
To the Bucks’ credit, they did try to give Middleton as much time as they can to recuperate. And for a while, it looked like it was only going to be a matter of time before the veteran forward regained his form for good. His performances during the 2024 NBA playoffs certainly indicated as such.
Alas, the Bucks felt like they had to do something to make better sense of the team they had, and with the cap restrictions brought forth by the new CBA, trading Middleton away was the path of least resistance when it came to acquiring some reinforcements. Nonetheless, Middleton’s number 22 should be hanging in the Fiserv Forum rafters once his career is over.
The post Khris Middleton’s painful admission about Bucks losing faith in him appeared first on ClutchPoints.
