Milwaukee Bucks: Khris Middleton to reportedly miss several weeks due to injury

Milwaukee Bucks All-Star swingman Khris Middleton will reportedly be sidelined several weeks for a left thigh contusion injury, which he sustained during the Bucks’ win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Just as the Milwaukee Bucks looked to have figured out some of their early season issues after coming off a week-long road trip out West, they’re now dealt with a big injury blow involving one of their star pieces.

First reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania, All-Star swingman Khris Middleton is expected to be sidelined several weeks due to a leg injury, which he picked up during the Bucks’ 121-119 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel followed up Charania’s report to give a clearer timeline as well as the distinction of the injury, which is being labeled as a left thigh contusion.

Middleton sustained the injury when he bumped knees with Terrance Ferguson midway through the third quarter Sunday night and subsequently came out of the game and went to the locker room to check the severity of the injury.

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Middleton briefly returned to the bench not long after and the Bucks announced that the 28-year-old wouldn’t return back to the game shortly thereafter.

With that said, Middleton was in good spirits following the Bucks’ win and was clearly optimistic about being able to return to action in a couple of days as he relayed to Eric Nehm of the Athletic in the locker room.

Obviously that won’t be the case when the Bucks return from their three-day layoff Thursday night in their first meeting versus the Chicago Bulls this season and now the Bucks will be without their second leading scorer behind superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo for a few weeks, at minimum.

Not that there’s a silver lining to the Bucks losing a starting contributor that’s clearly as valuable to their success like Middleton, but their schedule does tilt more towards being at home after a road-heavy slate through their first 10 games.

And over the next month, the Bucks will face a East-heavy schedule after opening the season with the second-hardest strength of schedule as John Schuhmann of NBA.com wrote in his power rankings column earlier Monday.

Who the Bucks turn to as they look to fill Middleton’s place in the starting lineup is anyone’s guess, but there will certainly be residual effects to being without the well-rounded swingman and the Bucks do have a number of players waiting in the wings that could step up over the next few weeks.

Middleton’s status will surely be monitored over the next few weeks and maybe he returns on the more optimistic side of the timeline that Velazquez reported. But we’ll have to see how the Bucks respond to an extended stretch without Middleton once they get back to action Thursday night.