Is Khris Middleton Really A Part Of The Milwaukee Bucks Big Three?
By Ti Windisch
Although he’s often mentioned after Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker if at all, should Khris Middleton be included when discussing the Milwaukee Bucks young stars?
Two years ago, Khris Middleton was a role player on the Milwaukee Bucks after being included as a throw-in as part of the Brandon Knight/Brandon Jennings trade. He was also milking cows at the Wisconsin State Fair.
Now, he’s one of the most sought-after three-and-d players in the entire NBA. Even though Middleton is clearly an efficient scorer and an effective defender, he’s still often listed after both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker in terms of assets the Milwaukee Bucks have.
Giannis and Jabari may be more exciting than Middleton is, but maybe they shouldn’t be. Fans tend to get unnecessarily excited about potential–it’s why every rookie class contains so many “surefire All-Stars” even though so few rookies actually pan out at the NBA level.
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Giannis surely showed that he’s worth the hype during the latter stages of the 2015-16 NBA season and there’s plenty of reason to be excited about Jabari’s NBA future, but Khris Middleton shouldn’t be discounted from the Bucks future–or their big three–just because he’s already good.
Looking at Middleton’s per game stats over his three Milwaukee seasons is enough reason to be excited about his future with the Bucks. He’s improved–markedly–every single year.
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/24/2016.
After improving his per game statistics in roughly the same amounts of minutes played per game from his first Bucks season to his second, Middleton became the lead dog for Milwaukee last season and saw massive increases in his points and assists per game.
His field goal percentage and three-point percentage dipped slightly, but going from role player to featured weapon on offense will do that to a young player. With Giannis and Jabari hopefully emerging as real stars next season, Middleton could see bumps in his efficiency without sacrificing too many of his bulk statistics.
The real point is that Middleton adjusted beautifully to much, much higher expectations than he’d ever been used to. In his first two seasons with the Bucks, Middleton averaged 861.5 shots and 2419 minutes per season.
Last year, he took 1142 shots and played 2852 minutes. Only five players logged more playing time than Khris Middleton last season. He became the sixth-most relied upon player across the entire NBA, and still managed to be an efficient scorer.
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The skill and versatility that Middleton showcased last season is proof enough that he belongs in the same category as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker going forward. He may be a couple of years older, but Khris Middleton still has room to get even better.
Considering he averaged 18.2 points, 4.2 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game on 44.4 percent field goal shooting and 39.6 percent three-point shooting last year, the thought of Middleton getting better must be terrifying to the other 29 NBA teams.
The only other player to average at least as many points, assists, rebounds and steals as Middleton while also matching or surpassing his shooting percentages last year was the league MVP, Stephen Curry.
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That’s not bad company for that trade throw-in to be in. Although he might not be as shiny as Giannis and Jabari, Khris Middleton deserves to be included with those two as a franchise cornerstone after the tremendous growth and skill he’s shown already in his short NBA career.