Milwaukee Bucks: Grading their 2019 offseason

Re-signing Khris Middleton

Once free agency kicked off on June 30, all eyes were on what the Bucks would do to retain their core three guys who were hitting free agency: Brook Lopez, Khris Middleton, and Malcolm Brogdon.

Milwaukee’s first order of business, to the surprise of no one, was re-signing Khris Middleton to a five-year, $178 million deal. Securing Middleton meant that the Bucks were able to retain the man who was, arguably, the second best player on their roster at many points over the past several years.

The deal also ended up being several million dollars below the maximum amount of money that Middleton could have gotten, saving the team some valuable cap space moving forward. It did come at the expense, however, of giving him a player option in his final contract year.

Even if there’s real questions about whether he’s the best fit in Coach Mike Budenholzer’s system, the Bucks did well to retain one of their best players for less than his max value. Milwaukee had no real way of upgrading on him this summer, and he is a very good player. Letting him walk was not a realistic option.