USATSI
The Milwaukee Bucks are trading Khris Middleton to the Washington Wizards for Kyle Kuzma, CBS Sports NBA insider Bill Reiter confirmed Wednesday. In addition to Kuzma and Middleton, the deal — which comes on the eve of the 2025 NBA trade deadline — also includes AJ Johnson and a 2028 pick swap going to the Wizards. The Bucks will also receive Patrick Baldwin Jr. and a 2025 second-round pick. Notably, the Bucks already owed swap rights to the Portland Trail Blazers in 2028, meaning the Wizards will only be in line to swap their own pick with the less favorable of Milwaukee’s and Portland’s in 2028.
Notably, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, Kuzma has agreed to reduced his trade bonus to help push this deal through for the Bucks. That matters because this deal saves the Bucks enough money to get under the second apron. Teams above the second apron cannot aggregate salaries in trades, meaning Milwaukee was limited in the sort of moves it could make to improve ahead of Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET deadline.
Now, however, the Bucks can aggregate salaries, and that therefore opens the door to a number of follow-up moves. The likeliest course for them now would be to attempt to aggregate the salaries of Pat Connaughton and Bobby Portis, who make around $22 million combined, to trade for another significant piece. They still have their 2031 first-round pick at their disposal to entice sellers as well.
Middleton, who was tied with Giannis Antetokounmpo for the title of longest-tenured Buck, joined the team in July of 2013 as a low-profile addition to the Brandon Jennings for Brandon Knight trade. He proceeded to become one of the greatest players in franchise history, reaching three All-Star games and helping Milwaukee win the 2021 championship.
Ever since then, though, Middleton has struggled to stay on the court because of a series of injuries. When the Bucks were trying to defend their title in 2022, Middleton got hurt in the first round of the playoffs and subsequently missed their second-round loss to the Boston Celtics. He played 33 games in the 2022-23 season, 55 a year later, and thus far this season has been limited to just 23 appearances at an average of 23.2 minutes per game. The Bucks have seemingly decided that they can’t rely on a healthy Middleton in the postseason and have elected to pivot.
They spent the deadline period in search of a major addition using Middleton’s salary. They had been linked to Zach LaVine before his trade to Sacramento, but matching money on his max contract would have been difficult. Instead, they land the cheaper Kuzma to fill their hole at forward.
Kuzma, like Middleton, is a former NBA champion whose career has experienced turbulence ever since. Kuzma won his title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, but was included in their 2021 blockbuster acquisition of Russell Westbrook and has been a Wizard ever since. He averaged a reasonably efficient 20.2 points per game in his first three seasons as a Wizard while rebounding well and providing passable defense.
This season, however, he has struggled on just about every front. He is shooting just 28.1% on 3-pointers and 49.5% on 2s for a Wizards team that is in line to finish the season with the league’s worst record. Last season, the Wizards reportedly approached him about a possible trade to the Dallas Mavericks, but he elected to remain in Washington. This season, though, he has seemingly changed his tune and chosen to accept a deal to a playoff team in Milwaukee.
This deal represents a meaningful risk for the Bucks. Even if Middleton’s health has been a problem, he is a former All-Star. Kuzma is not, and his struggles this season surely impacted his market. But Milwaukee seemingly believes it can get the version of him that helped the Lakers win a championship in the bubble, and if it does, this has a chance to be a very helpful trade for them.
