End of an Era: Bucks trade Khris Middleton to Washington for Kyle Kuzma.

Cue it up:

Remember when I said on the podcast that they Bucks, ‘have to do SOMETHING.’ Ehhhhh. I hope I’m wrong, but this doesn’t feel like the move. Granted: The trade deadline isn’t until tomorrow afternoon. So they may well have a few more tricks up their sleeve.

As you might expect, I have some thoughts on trading Khris Middleton, trading Khris Middleton for Kyle Kuzma, and the end of the Giannis/Middleton Era.

On Kyle Kuzma: Let’s start with some of the positives: He is younger than Middleton (29), cheaper than Middleton (this move gets them below the dreaded ‘second apron’ on the cap), he’s more athletic, faster, and should help this team defensively and in transition. He’s having a ROUGH shooting year (only 28% from 3), but he’s averaging 15.2 ppg this season and is a career 17.2 ppg scorer (averaged over 22 ppg last season). He was on a title team with the Lakers in the bubble in 2020 (if you count that), so he does have experience winning in the playoffs and being on a championship team.

Do I think Kuzma dramatically changes the Bucks’ fortunes for this season? I do not. I’d consider him a slight upgrade, but Kyle Kuzma does not put the Bucks in a spot where they can beat the Cavs/Celtics/Knicks in a best of 7. I hope I’m wrong, I’d love to eat my words, but I just don’t see it. Again, no one wants to be wrong more than me, luckily I have a track record of being wrong (see Chad, Bookie), so maybe we’ll luck out and Kuzma wakes up on a better team and has some kind of renaissance.

On trading Khris Middleton: Look, I don’t think I’m splitting the atom here by telling you that the current version of Khris Middleton was not going to help lead this team win a title. I love Khris, you love Khris, we all love Khris. But he is physically broken down. He’s no longer an All Star caliber player and he probably won’t be ever again. You see glimpses every once in a while, but those are few and far between and he is a nightmare defensively. It’s hard to reconcile all of that because we have such fond memories of him, specifically his heater in the playoffs in 2021. But the truth of the matter is that we’ve probably hung on to several members of that 2021 title team for nostalgia’s sake. Sadly, nostalgia doesn’t win you games or titles in the present day. They probably had to move on from him and his bloated contract, but the fact that you had to send him to the worst team in the league for Kyle *bleeping* Kuzma is a gut punch for the fan base.

On the Giannis ripple effect: I assume NOTHING happens in this organization without prior approval from Giannis. Jon Horst probably needs to get a bathroom key from him like he’s skipping 6th period study hall. So I think it’s highly unlikely that Giannis found out about this trade from Shams today like the rest of us. That said: Giannis and Middleton were really good friends. They were both here for the 15-win season in 2013, and they started the franchise turnaround together. Whatever happens at the end of this season, I can see Giannis looking around, not seeing familiar faces anymore, and contemplating a move. He’s been more loyal than any other modern-day NBA superstar, but I truly feel like Middleton leaving might have his mind wandering. I hope I’m wrong there too.

On Middleton’s legacy: Here’s my Bucks Mount Rushmore: Oscar, Kareem, Giannis, Middleton. Feel free to argue if you want, I’m sure a case can be made for a lot of different players in that 4th spot. Marques Johnson, Sidney Moncrief, Bob Dandridge, Ray Allen, Larry Sanders, etc. Middleton is 3rd on the all time Bucks’ scoring list, a 3-time All Star, and was a KEY part on a title team. I mean really look back at that run he had in the playoffs in 2021. Hit the game winner in Game 1 against Miami, hit the go-ahead basket in overtime of Game 7 in Brooklyn, went NUCLEAR in Game 3 and Game 6 against the Hawks (Game 6 with no Giannis), scored 40 points in an NBA Finals game against the Suns. NO ONE else that you’d argue is more deserving of that fourth spot on Mount Bucksmore has that playoff resume. Case closed.

So, we’ll see if there’s any more moves to be made, I hope there are, but regardless, this is the end of an era. Giannis and Middleton played together for TWELVE seasons. Can’t believe their window is closed.

PS: I hope for Middleton’s sake that the Wizards route him to a contending team. He deserves that. It will kill me to watch him make big shots in the playoffs for someone else, but he deserves that.

Double PS: AJ Johnson being involved in this deal pisses me off too. 19 years old, was having a decent year with the Herd, got his first real playing time in Oklahoma City on Monday night and looked pretty good. Rough to lose a promising young player in this deal as well.

Triple PS: SNIFF: