Milwaukee Bucks: Who will be the team’s Most Improved Player next season?

Khris Middleton

Khris Middleton might become an All-Star this year. In fact, he really should be expected to do so.

Middleton was in the conversation to become a replacement All-Star last season when some of the East’s players were struck with injury, and that was in a down year for him, especially from three-point range where he shot just 35.9 percent, in spite of his career mark of 39.1 percent.

Kawhi Leonard‘s arrival will provide competition, but the departures of LeBron James and DeMar DeRozan should still leave an opening in the All-Star conversation that Middleton would seem primed to fill.

The key for that will be building on a strong finish to last year and putting together a more consistent campaign this time around. Along with his shooting issues, Middleton’s defensive effort in the regular season was also lackluster, although that could be viewed as a byproduct of his excessive minutes load.

In the playoffs, however, Middleton was excellent all around, averaging 24.7 points per game while shooting a ridiculous 59.8 percent from the field and 61 percent from beyond the arc. Middleton also played very good defense, proving that the regular season Middleton was just a slightly off-year for him as he came back from injury.

If his three-point percentage gets back up to 40 percent, he increases his attempt rate in the new system — for such a good shooter, it’s almost criminal that only five out of his 15.5 field goal attempts are from deep — and becomes an All-Star; Middleton will have an excellent chance to be the Bucks’ MIP.