Milwaukee Bucks Rumors: Khris Middleton set to re-sign for 5 years, $178 million
By Adam McGee
The Milwaukee Bucks will reportedly re-sign Khris Middleton on a five-year deal worth $178 million, $12 million below his potential max.
Having reportedly come to terms on a deal with veteran center Brook Lopez already, the Milwaukee Bucks’ busy June 30 continues, and free agency hasn’t even officially opened yet.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, All-Star wing Khris Middleton is set to re-sign with the Milwaukee Bucks on a five-year deal valued at $178 million.
Once free agency opens at 6 PM, All-Star Khris Middleton plans to return to the Milwaukee Bucks on a five-year, $178M contract, league sources tell ESPN. The deal is expected to include a player option on final year.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2019
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That deal represents maximum years for Middleton, as only the Bucks could offer five, but sees Middleton leave $12 million on the table over that span. Considering the Bucks still have to re-sign Malcolm Brogdon and George Hill, that is not an insignificant detail.
In fact, with the Bucks facing the prospect of being a luxury tax team into the foreseeable future, and the hope being that Giannis Antetokounmpo will sign a super-max extension next summer, that discount could stand to save the team’s owners significant money on an annual basis.
The other somewhat surprising detail of the reported deal is the player option for the fifth year. Perhaps that was a request on Middleton’s part and a trade-off that was negotiated in exchange for the discount, but it didn’t present as a deal-breaker for the Bucks right now, nor should it have.
Middleton secured comfortably the biggest pay day of his career to date by buying into a new role under Mike Budenholzer, and still enjoying a career year in many areas in spite of occasional ups and downs.
It certainly didn’t hurt his case that he also made his first appearance in the All-Star Game in 2019, boosting his status around the NBA, and generating wider interest in himself as a free agent target.
If it wasn’t for the fact it was widely viewed as a given that he’d return to Milwaukee, Middleton may well have been the focus of greater attention from teams around the NBA. As is, with many of the most significant free agents seemingly set to sign deals very soon after free agency opens, if the Bucks hadn’t agreed to this deal so quickly, they may have had to deal with the prospect of Middleton fielding hopeful rather than expectant offers anyway.
Having arrived in Milwaukee in 2013-14, Middleton will now have a chance to spend 11 seasons with the Bucks if he sees out the entirety of his new contract. Considering the high expectations for the team in the coming years, that will give Middleton the opportunity to cement an all-time great Bucks legacy before all is said and done.
Next. Milwaukee Bucks Rumors: Brook Lopez set to re-sign for four years, $52 million. dark
Milwaukee’s work in free agency is by no means finished, but with deals tied up with their two unrestricted free agent starters, the ability to bring back the entirety of last year’s starting five now rests in their hands.