The Milwaukee Bucks are trading forward Khris Middleton, guard AJ Johnson, and a pick swap to the Washington Wizards in exchange for forward Kyle Kuzma, forward Partrick Balwdin Jr., and a second-round draft pick, according to sources that spoke to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Kyle Kuzma is averaging 15.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists while shooting 42% from the field. Though he has played in 32 games this season, the Wizards still have the worst record in the league at 8-41.
Khris Middleton has only played in 23 games for the Bucks this year. Despite being on a minutes restriction, Middleton has still averaged 12.6 points per game on 51.2% shooting. He is also good for 3.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists.
Both Patrick Baldwin Jr. and AJ Johnson have served their teams as rotational bench pieces. Baldwin Jr., who actually attended college in Milwaukee, is averaging 2.1 points per game in a little under five minutes. Meanwhile, AJ Johnson averages 2.9 points, one rebound, and one assist in 6.3 minutes off the bench.
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Why trade Khris Middleton now?
Khris Middleton has not been the same player he once was ever since he sprained his MCL in the first round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs. Before that injury, Middleton averaged 17.1 points per game. Since then, his points per game have dropped off to 14.5.
He also isn’t as available as he once was. Middleton used to average 31.8 minutes per game before the injury. Since then, his minutes have decreased to 25.4 per game.
The Bucks were ready to move on from Middleton. He is scheduled to turn 34 years old in a few months. It doesn’t help that he underwent arthroscopic surgery on both of his ankles before the season began. That’s not a good sign for a team looking to win now with an aging Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo in the prime of his career.
Based on pure availability and age, Kyle Kuzma is an upgrade at the small forward position. Kuzma is four years younger than Middleton, which means he has four fewer years of wear and tear on his body. Plus, Kuzma has played 5,407 minutes in his last 166 games (32.57 minutes per game), so he can be on the floor for longer stretches than Middleton.
The move made sense for the Bucks financially. Khris Middleton is scheduled to make $31.67 million this year while Kyle Kuzma’s price tag is only $23.52 million this season.
This feels like a slam dunk trade for the Milwaukee Bucks because they upgraded their small forward position while saving the franchise over $8 million this season. That type of financial flexibility allows the Bucks to make another move before the NBA trade deadline passes on Thursday. And if they do end up staying put with the roster as is, then they can make some additions in the off-season with that extra cash.
Is Kyle Kuzma the missing piece for the Bucks?
While the move is smart, it doesn’t necessarily change the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference. All it really does is help the Bucks look like the fourth seed rather than the fifth seed.
Regardless of what the records are, the Boston Celtics are still the class of the East. They brought back 15 players from last year’s team that won the NBA Championship. And, they have the same top six scorers this season that they had last season.
The Cleveland Cavaliers actually have the best record in the East at 40-10. With a 13-game advantage over Milwaukee, I don’t see the Bucks catching the Cavs in the playoff race
And there’s the New York Knicks, who look like the most improved team in the NBA with the off-season addition of Karl-Anthony Towns. The Knicks have shown dominance over Milwaukee with an average margin of victory of 28 points in two games against the Bucks.
I do think this trade makes Milwaukee better than the Indiana Pacers, who are on track to finish with the same or a worse record this year compared to last year.
In reality, though, this trade doesn’t move the needle much for the Bucks. The deal doesn’t make them better than the Celtics, Cavaliers, or Knicks. But the trade was necessary because Milwaukee needed to shake things up to snap their four-game losing streak.
Washington is all-in on Cooper Flagg
The Washington Wizards stink out loud. They opened the season 2-2 before losing their next 16 consecutive games. They then won four of their next 23 matchups, bringing their record to 6-41. Winning two straight games to improve their record to 8-41 must have scared Washington’s front office because they traded away Kyle Kuzma two days after those back-to-back wins.
Washington is going full tank mode. You don’t trade your second-best scorer to a team in your conference for an older and more expensive player if you are expecting to be competitive this season. By trading for Khris Middleton, the Wizards can claim they are still trying to compete by bringing in a former All-Star and NBA Champion, but we know that the Wizards are just trying to lose as many games as possible so they have a better shot at securing the number-one pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and landing Duke freshman guard Cooper Flagg, who averages 20 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 4.2 assists at 6’9″.
The 2024-25 Wizards aren’t the worst team of all time, but they could end up close to it when the season concludes. The 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats had the lowest single-season win percentage in NBA history after they finished the campaign 7-59 (.106). Before the Kuzma trade, Washington had a win percentage of .163. With the departure of their second-best player, the Wizards have set themselves up to lose many more games this season.
Being the worst team in the NBA doesn’t guarantee you’ll win the draft lottery. Since the NBA adopted the NBA Draft Lottery format in 1985, the worst team in the league has only earned the number-one overall draft pick eight times. The Wizards will need some luck when the ping-pong balls fall this coming May, but they should be in a good position to land the first pick now that they have traded away Kyle Kuzma.
