Wednesday morning marked the end of an era in MilwaukeeWhile the bucks agreed to negotiate the icon of the Khddleton franchise and AJ Johnson at the Washington Wizards in exchange for Kyle Kuzma and Patrick Baldwin Jr. The two teams also exchanged the capital of the draft.
Former second round choice, Middleton had been in Milwaukee since 2013, when he arrived as part of the trade of Brandon Knight-Brandon Jennings. During the last decade, Middleton had become a favorite of fans for his clutch shooting, his regular game and his heroic in playoffs during the race of the title of Bucks in 2021.
Middleton leaves with his name strewn at the top of the rankings of all time of the Bucks: second in games played (735), third in points (12,586), seventh in rebounds (3,598), third in assists (2,990), Fifth in flight (870) and first in 3 points (1,382). One day, he could raise his n ° 22 on the rafters inside the FISERV forum.
For the moment, however, the Bucks are only thinking in the present and their chance of winning a title in the near future. Prevalu the profession, who would have come With the approval of Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Grade of dollars: c-
In recent weeks, the Bucks have been widely described as one of the most desperate teams before the deadline, and for a good reason. They won an eliminatory series since their championship in 2021 and the title window with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and an aging nucleus closed quickly.
In addition, even if they rebounded after a brutal start, they did not look like a real competitor this season. They are 0-8 against the best three teams from the East Conference, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and New York Knicks, and are in fifth place at 26-22.
One of the main reasons why the bucks are stuck in the middle of the pack is the problems of continuous injury from Middleton and the inconsistent game. He suffered a double ankle surgery during the summer, the last in a series of procedures dating from his knee sprain in the 2022 playoffs, and missed the first 21 games of the season.
Since his return, Middleton has been relegated to a bench role and remains a few minutes of restriction. There are nights when he looks like his old self, but others where he is afterwards. In fact, he went out of goal three times – the only three of his career where he played at least 15 minutes without recording a point.
It is quite logical that the Bucks are looking for an upgrade on this reduced version of Middleton, which is why they had been linked to Jimmy Butler, Zach Lavine and even Bradley Beal. These transactions prove to be difficult, however, namely because of their restrictions on the second apron, which did not allow them to aggregate wages in a profession. Lavine finally left the painting, Beal, who has a non-exchange clause, seems happy to stay in Phoenix and Butler insists on going to Phoenix.
Instead of resigning to work on the margins, the Bucks pivoted Kuzma, who, who, who As Zach Lowe saidwas “a whole vote of non-confidence in Middleton”.
Middleton is one of the best players in the history of the franchise, a champion and a key cloakroom figure, and the Bucks threw it as well as their last first round choice for a guy who has the season by far Less effective in his career and the ranks last from the league in victory shares.
Again, trying to find an upgrade on Middleton is completely understandable. Exchanging it for this version of Kuzma is not.
Put aside all aspects of sentimentality – after all, you lean too hard in this direction, this is the way you find yourself in this league – Middleton is a much better shooter and playmaker than Kuzma, as well as A proven interpreter of the playoffs. Middleton’s teammates travel his ability to organize their offense, which has often been a problem since the arrival of Damian Lillard, and he has an innate link with Antetokounmpo. He also does not need the ball in his hands to be useful on the offensive side.
In terms of youth and athletics, as well as size on the wing and availability, the Bucks have obtained an upgrade. That’s almost everything they can point. Even if you want to argue that Kuzma will be better once it is out of this terrible team of Wizards, it does not solve the problems presented by the declining defense of Middleton or incoherent offensive performance.
If Kuzma was the best that the bucks could do for the moment, they would have been better to stick to Middleton and seek a different movement this summer.
Outside the field, the aspect of the salary ceiling of this agreement cannot be overlooked. Everyone supposed that the Bucks would try to go under the second apron by treating someone like Pat Connaughton, but the move of Middleton did the trick. They can now combine the wages of the trades and probably have not done traffic.
Grade of wizards: B
There are not really too many analyzes to do here for wizards, which, despite consecutive victories, suffer a historically bad season at 8-41.
On the Kuzma Front, it was terrible this season and is under contract until 2027. They were certainly happy to leave your money in the long term (Kuzma is due to around 40 million dollars in the following two seasons). In addition, his departure will open more opportunities to their young players.
For as long as Middleton stays around, it will be a good influence of the changing rooms, and even if it is almost certain to take its player option for 2025-26 this summer, the Wizards could rehears it for a competitor for more active . Otherwise, it will be at least out of books earlier that Kuzma would not have been.
For their troubles, the Wizards get Johnson, who was the choice n ° 23 in 2024 NBA draft. He barely played for the Bucks this season, but has shown some lightnings in the G League and is an incredible athlete. Still at only 20 years old, Johnson corresponds to the chronology of the Wizards and is another young talent so that they are potentially developing.
Secondary exchange 2028 could also cause dividends.
