The Whiteboard: Khris Middleton is the Milwaukee Bucks’ second star
By Ti Windisch
The Milwaukee Bucks have needed a second star to play alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Khris Middleton seems poised to be that guy.
The Milwaukee Bucks are a team to watch in the Eastern Conference, largely because of Giannis Antetokounmpo. There is a perception that the Bucks are basically Giannis and not much else. Khris Middleton would probably have a thing or two to say about that.
Middleton’s entrance in Milwaukee was about as quiet as the man himself. A throw-in in the Brandon Jennings/Brandon Knight deal, Middleton had started exactly zero games in his rookie season on the Detroit Pistons and did not figure to be an impact player on his new team.
That is, until he won a starting job and dropped 20 or more points 12 times in his first Bucks season. Middleton has only improved since then, as aside from his injury-shortened 2016-17 season Middleton’s scoring per game has increased each year he’s been in the league.
All of that scoring culminated in Middleton’s absolutely bonkers first round series against the Boston Celtics this past postseason. The Bucks lost in seven, but not due to any slacking on Middleton’s part: he averaged 24.7 points per game on 59.8 percent field goal shooting and 61.0 percent 3-point shooting. Essentially, he was a human flamethrower.
It’s true that the Bucks need a second star to support Giannis Antetokounmpo — it’s also true that they probably have that player already in Middleton. Chasing more talent is never a bad thing, but it seems as though Milwaukee has its number two already, especially considering the Bucks’ ugly cap sheet.
| Player | GS | MP | FGA | FG% | 3PA | 3P% | eFG% | FTA | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Butler | 59 | 36.7 | 15.6 | .474 | 3.4 | .350 | .512 | 7.2 | .854 | 5.3 | 4.9 | 2.0 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 22.2 |
| Khris Middleton | 82 | 36.4 | 15.5 | .466 | 5.0 | .359 | .524 | 4.4 | .884 | 5.2 | 4.0 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 3.3 | 20.1 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 8/30/2018.
Jimmy Butler is a legitimately great player, and he was only slightly better than Middleton was last season. Butler is also two years older and has an extra season of NBA minutes on him, which considering they were Thibs minutes is worth about a decade.
If the Bucks can go get a player like Butler too, then all the better! But if that’s not feasible, a re-tooling around Giannis and Middleton with Mike Budenholzer around might be really damn good anyway.
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