Let’s grade the Bucks-Wizards trade involving Khris Middleton and Kyle Kuzma.
The Milwaukee Bucks have traded a franchise legend for a younger and cheaper forward as they gear up to make a run in the 2025 NBA Playoffs around Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.
Khris Middleton has been traded to the Washington Wizards in a deal that will return Kyle Kuzma to the Bucks. Here’s the full details on the trade, via ESPN insider Shams Charania:
Bucks get: Kyle Kuzma, Patrick Baldwin Jr. and future second-round draft pick
Wizards get: Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, and a 2028 first-round pick swap
Middleton was a key piece in Milwaukee’s 2021 NBA championship team. He’s battled injuries in the years since, and had surgery on both of his ankles this past summer. Middleton has only played 23 games this season with a career-low in minutes per game, but he’s still been effective in short spurts.
The Bucks save a lot of money in this deal. Milwaukee drops from a second-apron team to a first-apron team with the trade. Let’s grade this deal from both sides.
Bucks grade for Kyle Kuzma, Khris Middleton trade
The Bucks have dug themselves out of their terrible start, but they’re still far behind the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics in the standings. Milwaukee is 26-22 overall sitting in the No. 5 seed in the East at the time of this trade.
It’s heartbreaking to trade a player like Middleton. The Bucks don’t win their 2021 championship without him. This trade gives Milwaukee a younger player and much more financial flexibility. Antetokounmpo reportedly signed on off on the trade.
By dropping from the second apron to the first apron, the Bucks can now aggregate salaries in trades. This could mean another move is coming before Thursday’s trade deadline.
Kuzma is 29 years old, and he’s having one of the worst seasons of his career for a terrible Wizards team. He’s averaging 15.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game, but his scoring efficiency is among the worst in the league for high-volume shooters. Kuzma is only making 28.1 percent of his three-pointers on five attempts per game, and he’s posting an awful true shooting percentage (a metric that captures overall scoring efficiency) of 48.8 percent, nearly 10 points below league-average.
Kuzma has been below league-average in scoring efficiency every season of his career, but this is his worst season as a scorer by far. Kuzma shot 33.6 percent from three over his first three seasons with the Wizards before his shot abandoned him this year.
Kuzma has solid size at 6’9, 220 pounds and can play either forward spot. He was a part of a championship team on the 2020 Los Angeles Lakers. His defensive impact has been poor in Washington, but he stepped up his defense in meaningful games for the Lakers. Kuzma is having a comically bad season statistically so far, but he’s still a talented player who could possibly turn it around outside of Washington’s dumpster fire.
Johnson is a nice prospect for the Wizards to get. Scouts were shocked that Milwaukee used a first-round pick on him, but he’s shown some flashes of talent in limited minutes. Giving up a first-round pick swap in 2028 is terrifying if Giannis ever forces his way out of town, but meaningless if he stays in Milwaukee.
The financial savings are a major part of the reason the Bucks made this trade. Dropping out of the second-apron gives them so many more team-building options. Milwaukee has one of the very best players in the NBA in Antetokounmpo, but the team needs to make more moves to become a real contender. This is a step towards that, even if it’s a painful one.
It’s hard to grade this deal until we know what the Bucks do next. Is a Jimmy Butler trade coming? Kuzma can’t be this bad all season, right? Middleton’s health was such a scary factor that Milwaukee had to do something to get off his deal, but this isn’t exactly the ideal return.
Bucks grade: C+
Wizards grade for Kyle Kuzma, Khris Middleton trade
The Wizards are a pathetic excuse for an NBA team. Washington is 8-41 overall and just finished one of the worst months in NBA history in January.
The Wizards are still at the start of their rebuild, and it’s going to be a couple more years at least until they field a competitive team. Middleton does not do anything for this team in the short-term. He might be traded before he ever plays a game for the Wizards. If he’s not re-routed by Thursday’s deadline, expect him to be moved in the summer.
The Wizards are doing this trade for the future assets. If Giannis leaves Milwaukee by 2028, that first-round pick swap is going to be incredibly valuable. Johnson is a decent prospect as well as a big guard with shot-creation potential, though he wasn’t one of my favorite players in the 2024 draft.
This trade amounts to playing roulette for Washington. It’s a low-risk move in the present that has a chance to pay off big in the future if Antetokounmpo asks out. Washington hopes to win the draft lottery for Cooper Flagg this year, but even if they don’t they will still have a top-five pick to add a premium young talent. Alex Sarr has looked good as a rookie as the No. 2 overall pick in 2024, and the young nucleus of Bilal Coulibaly, Bub Carrington, and Kyshawn George gives the Wizards some hope for the future.
I like this move for Washington because there’s no risk in involved. It will be interesting to see if Washington can get more value for Middleton than Milwaukee did. The veteran will be on the move again before long.
Wizards grade: A
