The Milwaukee Bucks traded one of the key contributors to their 2021 NBA Championship team when they traded Khris Middleton to the Washington Wizards on Feb. 7.
Middleton spent his entire 11-year career with the Bucks, making three All-Star appearances and averaging 20.4 points, six rebounds and 5.4 assists to help Milwaukee win the title during the 2020-21 season. But after injuries limited him to just 111 games over the past three seasons, the Bucks made the decision to trade him to maximize their championship window.
Bucks fans were surprised by the trade, which brought back forward Kyle Kuzma as the centerpiece, but Middleton seemed to accept it in some surprising new comments released on Friday.
Khris Middleton Believes Trade From Bucks Had ‘Perfect Timing’
Middleton’s comments were in a piece by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Jim Owczarski who documented the 33-year-old’s decision to leave the team and drive to his hometown of Charleston, South Carolina from Charlotte on Feb. 5. With trade rumors circulating Middleton said his plan was to “just disappear” and he was traded to the Wizards a few hours later.
“It was perfect timing, as weird as that is to say,” Middleton told Owczarski. “I got a three-and-half-hour drive to drive by myself and just process it all. So I think it was very healthy just for me to go through that little bit of time by myself and some quiet time to get everything out, think through everything and figure out what the new normal is and figure out what’s next and tell myself that, been there for 11, 12 years that this isn’t the end of my career.”
Middleton is a former All-Star but hasn’t displayed that form in recent years. While he was still shooting 51.2% from the floor and 40.7% from 3-point range this season, injuries had limited him to just 23 games and seven starts. Middleton also was averaging 12.6 points per game – his second lowest average since his first season in Milwaukee during the 2013-14 campaign – with 4.4 assists and 0.7 steals.
With his quickness and defense declining after offseason surgery on both ankles, the Bucks made the decision to swap him out for Kuzma, who is averaging 15.6 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists in his first five games (four starts) with Milwaukee. Meanwhile, Middleton hasn’t played with the Wizards as he’s taken more time to process the decision to trade him.
“I mean you go through a lot,” Middleton said. “You go through for sure, why the f*** are they trading me? Of course. Then you go through, damn, they really traded me. Denial, like there’s no way. Sadness.”
Middleton later admitted he believed the trade was a “consequence for not winning” and that he understood that the Bucks are trying to win as many championships as possible while they have Giannis Antetokounmpo. He also still has appreciation for the citiy of Milwaukee and believes that there is a path to a second chapter in his career even in his mid-30s.
“Happiness where I get to come to a place where I get to be myself,” Middleton said. “I get to grow back into myself. There’s time for me to get myself back, to get my body right, to get my game back to where it was. They’re just in a different situation. So there’s a lot of things I tried to understand about the situation. You can’t take it personal. They had to do what’s best for them and the organization and now I have to figure out how to do what’s best for me in this situation. I think this is somewhere where I can thrive and this is somewhere I’m happy for the time being.”