Fansided

Report: Khris Middleton nearing five-year, $70 million contract with Bucks

By Cody Williams

Apr 20, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Khris Middleton (22) reacts against the Chicago Bulls during the second half in game two of the first round of the 2015 NBA Playoffs at the United Center. The Chicago Bulls defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 92-81. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 20, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Khris Middleton (22) reacts against the Chicago Bulls during the second half in game two of the first round of the 2015 NBA Playoffs at the United Center. The Chicago Bulls defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 92-81. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Milwaukee Bucks appear to be on the verge of inking Khris Middleton to a massive contract.

Next: Moves Cavaliers Must Make So LeBron Re-Signs

The Milwaukee Bucks have a ton of youth and seem to be on the cusp of becoming special in the NBA – especially after making the postseason as a No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference last season. It appears as though the team believes that guard Khris Middleton is going to be an integral part of its future, at least that’s what early NBA free agency moves indicate.

According to a report from ESPN’s Marc Stein, the Bucks are close to inking a five-year deal with Middleton that will pay the Texas A&M product $70 million over the length of the contact.

That’s a tremendous payday for a player who, on a second round pick’s contract, has been making under $1 million for his first three seasons in the league.

Stein also added that locking up Middleton as a restricted free agent this summer is one of the Milwaukee front office’s top priorities. With what Middleton did for the team last season, that the Bucks would want to sign him long-term isn’t surprising.

Middleton put up 13.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game in 79 appearances, while shooting 46.7 percent from the floor and 40.7 percent from behind the arc. Despite some inconsistency, Middleton was also the Bucks most dangerous offensive option for most of the year – not to mention a key cog in one of the NBA’s best defenses. In fact, Middleton’s 6.9 net rating (the average of a player’s offensive and defensive rating) was tied for the team lead for players who averaged more than 20 minutes per game.

Despite Middleton’s value, the money in this deal seems crazy. Even with reports that the salary cap will be $2 million higher than expected, Middleton’s deal severely limits what else Milwaukee will be able to do in free agency going forward. With that new cap figure, the Bucks would have had roughly $22.3 million in cap space. Assuming Middleton’s new deal would be evenly distributed over the five years, that figure will drop to around $8.3 million in cap room.

With Stein also reporting that the Bucks want to add a big man in well in free agency, this deal seems suspect. I’m sure it’ll look substantially better when the salary cap jumps almost $20 million next summer, but right now it looks as though it cripples the Bucks during this free agency period. Taking a risk on a talented 23-year-old isn’t a bad thing, but doing so for this amount of money makes the outlook far less optimistic.

More from Milwaukee Bucks

Home/Milwaukee Bucks