Milwaukee Bucks 2018-19 Season Review: Khris Middleton

The best of Middleton

Reflecting on his 2018-19 season, it’s immediately apparent that this was a year when Khris Middleton essentially came of age.

That isn’t a statement on any specific element of Middleton’s game, but more of a factor when it comes to his personality. For many years, the Bucks lacked obvious leadership on a young team, but Middleton very visibly took up that mantle this year.

Part of that comes from the sacrifices he made in terms of his own preferred shots and scoring opportunities, but even more important is the way in which Middleton’s contributions were rounded out better than ever.

In spite of playing considerably fewer minutes per game than he had to a year ago, Middleton registered career-highs in assists and rebounds per game. That speaks to Middleton’s increased centrality to Milwaukee’s game, and an element of controlling the general direction of the team’s play that wasn’t necessarily present before this year.

Middleton’s improved playmaking certainly helped Milwaukee in managing lineups and rotations better than ever before, and benefited the team as a whole.

Also significant was the way in which Middleton bounced back from some of the struggles he endured in the 2017-18 season. Coming back in his first full season back from injury then, Middleton shot just 35.9 percent from deep and looked to have taken a notable step back on the defensive end of the floor.

Stepping his shooting back up to 37.8 percent from deep, and doing so on 6.2 attempts, was certainly welcome from Middleton, but his more stout defensive presence also came to the fore in the playoffs and remains vital for Milwaukee going forward.