The Milwaukee Bucks and Washington Wizards have agreed to a trade that will send three-time All-Star forward Khris Middleton and rookie guard AJ Johnson to the Wizards in exchange for forwards Kyle Kuzma and Patrick Baldwin Jr., league sources said.
The teams are also discussing including second-round draft picks in the deal, the sources said.
Trading Middleton, one of the most storied players in Bucks history, is a massive move for the franchise, even if the 6-foot-7 Middleton has been limited this season. Middleton, 33, has played only 23 games this season and averaged 12.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 23.2 minutes per game as he continues to work his way back from offseason procedures on both ankles.
But Middleton’s place in the Bucks’ history books is undeniable. Middleton was the team’s crunch-time operator and clutch-shot maker in the team’s run to the 2020-21 NBA championship, the team’s first title since 1970-71. He spent the last 12 seasons with the Bucks and ranks first in franchise history in 3-point makes, third in points, third in assists and seventh in rebounds.
Kuzma, 29, has high-level playoff experience. He was a key role player in the Los Angeles Lakers’ run to the 2019-20 NBA championship. After his trade to Washington in 2021, he had been one of the Wizards’ top options on offense and led the team in scoring last season with 22.2 points per game.
But this season, the rebuilding Wizards had diminished his role somewhat, emphasizing a system with multiple ballhandlers, including point guard Jordan Poole and second-year swingman Bilal Coulibaly. Injuries, including a rib-cartilage tear that kept him out almost one month, also limited Kuzma’s effectiveness. Kuzma also struggled to stomach the Wizards’ near-historic levels of losing this season.
The 6-9 Kuzma goes to a Bucks team with an established pecking order, with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard in the key roles. A league source told The Athletic that the Bucks did extensive research on Kuzma in recent days, and team officials believe Kuzma can help them play fast on offense and be more effective in transition.
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Johnson, 20, is a rookie who was the 23rd pick in last June’s draft. Although he has played sparingly for the Bucks this season, he has received extensive playing time for the Bucks’ G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd.
A 6-foot-5 guard, he has the height and positional size that Wizards executives and coaches value, and would fit the Wizards’ timeline for their still-achingly young core group, with 19-year-old rookie big Alex Sarr and 19-year-old guard Bub Carrington, both taken in the first round of the 2024 draft, 20-year-old wing Bilal Coulibaly, taken seventh in 2023, and 21-year-old forward Kyshawn George, the third first-round pick from Washington in last year’s draft.
Moving Middleton and Johnson in exchange for Kuzma and Baldwin cuts roughly $8.5 million off of the Bucks’ salary table and takes them under the second apron, which opens greater roster flexibility this season.
If the Bucks want to make more moves this trade season, they will still be prohibited from taking back more money than they send out in any deal, but they now can aggregate contracts in 2-for-1 deals as long as they don’t bring in a dollar more in salaries than they send out.
With Kuzma on the books for next season instead of Middleton, the Bucks have also created greater flexibility moving forward because Kuzma will earn roughly $12.5 million less than Middleton next season. Middleton holds a player option for the 2025-26 season worth $34.0 million, while Kuzma will receive $21.5 million guaranteed next season and $19.4 million guaranteed during the 2026-27 season.
Baldwin, a 22-year-old who was born and raised in Wisconsin, is in his third NBA season. At 6-9, he has more of a finesse game revolving offensively on stretching the floor. He played sparingly as a rookie with Golden State and the last two seasons in Washington. In October, the Wizards declined their fourth-year team option on Baldwin for the 2025-26 season. Recently, he has played in some games for the Wizards’ G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go, in an attempt to stay sharp.
(Photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
