Khris MiddletonPatrick McDermott/Getty Images
The rationale for the Bucks here isn’t hard to articulate.
Middleton is 33, well past his prime and often injured. He’s not even starting this season. Kuzma is 29 and certainly more durable.
After that, it gets a little trickier to understand this deal.
Middleton is a dramatically better passer. He just about doubles Kuzma’s 2024-25 assist percentage. He’s a far more reliable (both historically and right now) three-point shooter. And he’s a franchise legend.
In all of Bucks history, he’s first in threes, second in games, second in minutes, third in points, third in assists, fifth in steals, seventh in rebounds, seventh in wins over replacement player and eighth in triple-doubles.
Lofty spots on those leaderboards aren’t enough on their own to prevent a trade, but you’d think they might demand a little better return than Kuzma, Patrick Baldwin Jr. and some second-round picks.
On top of that, Middleton (who, unlike Kuzma, has had a positive impact on his team’s point differential this season) isn’t the only thing Milwaukee gave up.
AJ Johnson is barely 20 years old. He’s only played 44 minutes in the NBA, but he’s averaging double-figures and shooting 42.6 percent from three in the G-League, where the 6’4″ guard is one of the most impressive athletes at that level.
Oh, and somehow, that’s not all. Milwaukee also gave up a future pick swap (details on that haven’t been reported yet).
This has a chance to be among those rare deals that make one team worse both now and in the future. And that team is the Bucks, who have a super-duper-star in Giannis who’s previously said he’d move on if he felt like the team’s commitment to winning waned.
There’s no guarantee that’ll happen, of course. Kuzma’s career could be resurrected in Milwaukee. But right now, this is a tough one to sell as a win for the Bucks.
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