Milwaukee Bucks swingman Khris Middleton is enjoying a career year shooting the ball this season and it’s been the re-emergence of his mid-range game that has helped him unlock his shooting touch from all levels of the floor.
The mid-range game continues to lose its relevance in today’s NBA and the Milwaukee Bucks stand as no exception.
The arrival of head coach Mike Budenholzer ushered in a new day and a new way for the Bucks to operate offensively as they focused on letting it fly and attacking the basket. By doing so, the Bucks’ offense has since played at an incredible efficiency, all typified by their superstar and reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
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While the Bucks’ five-out, motion-based system has come naturally to the team as a whole, there was one notable figure who underwent a period of adjustment last season, that being Khris Middleton.
It didn’t prevent Middleton from earning the first All-Star appearance of his career last season, but the Bucks swingman had to work around a new role in which his methodical mid-range scoring would take a backseat in favor of being a more incisive shooting threat next to Antetokounmpo, Eric Bledsoe, and so on.
Case in point, the Bucks attempted the fourth-fewest mid-range shots last season, trailing the Brooklyn Nets, the Atlanta Hawks, and the Houston Rockets, per NBA.com/stats. And it was Middleton who supplied 36.1 percent of the Bucks’ shot attempts from the mid-range area during their run last year, hitting them at a 43.5 percent clip.
That change was something that Middleton detailed with Rob Mahoney of Sports Illustrated during All-Star Weekend last season, as well as how his role initially changed in Budenholzer’s first year in charge:
"“I knew [last season that] I could get three shots off the pick-and-roll, a couple off post-ups, one or two off catch-and-shoot,” Middleton says. “Now, it’s more sporadic. You really don’t know where it’s coming from, which is great because the defense doesn’t know what’s gonna come.”"
This season, though, the Bucks have added a little more variety to their offense, all while they play at a league-leading pace. Make no mistake, the Bucks are attempting slightly more 3-point attempts per game (38.8) than they did last year (38.2) and are scoring 51.8 paint points per game, which is slightly down from the 53.3 paint points they averaged last season.
While the variety the Bucks have incorporated into their offense this season has revolved around more post ups and manufacturing scoring opportunities in the pick-and-roll, they’ve been slightly lax on throwing out the in-between game this year and it’s where Middleton, in particular, has shined as he pursues his second straight All-Star selection.
The Bucks have attempted 9.2 mid-range shots per game this season, up from the 8.4 attempts that averaged from that area of the floor last year. With the slight uptick in volume, the Bucks have improved their efficiency in that area of their scoring, going from hitting 38.6 percent of their mid-range looks last season to 45.3 percent on such attempts this season. That’s the difference of ranking 23rd in that department last year to second this season, just trailing the Oklahoma City Thunder.
And it’s been Middleton who has led the charge in this regard as his mid-range shotmaking has come back to the fore as he has converted 50.8 percent of his 128 mid-range looks so far. That’s a better mark than what Middleton tallied from that area of the floor during his career scoring year back in the 2017-18 season before Budenholzer’s arrival to Milwaukee where he hit 49.3 percent of his 454 mid-range attempts.
Middleton’s mid-range marksmanship returning in his shot arsenal has had a profound effect on him crafting not only his most productive season by per-36 minute standards, but his most efficient campaign as evidenced by his career-high true shooting percentage of 59 percent.
Middleton’s increasing confidence and comfort scoring the ball have opened up all facets of his scoring ability, the biggest of which has been his been from beyond the arc. The former Aggie’s 39.6 3-point percentage resembles the marks he set early in his Bucks tenure and he’s been able to blend his tendencies to pull up from deep, especially in transition, with his catch-and-shoot capabilities.
To those points, Middleton is hitting 41 percent of his 83 catch-and-shoot attempts from downtown this season and is 25-of-65 on his pull up 3-point attempts, good for 38.5 percent.
Needless to say, Middleton going back to his mid-range roots has, in turn, given him his best scoring season as he continues to marry his personal tendencies within the scope of the Bucks’ let it fly philosophy under Budenholzer.
Of course, Middleton’s not the explosive, otherworldly athlete that Antetokounmpo is and nor is he the Ferrari that Bledsoe is as he regularly bursts his way to the cup. That’s been evident over his Bucks career and finding his comfort in the in-between areas has been key to being the functional and multi-dimensional threat that has cemented his place within the Bucks’ foundation.
And for those wondering, the added mid-range looks have done nothing to damage the Bucks’ overall offensive efficiency as their 113.7 offensive rating this year is slightly higher than the 113.5 offensive rating they compiled last season.
With Middleton increasingly looking like he’s in the midst of building the most efficient season of his career, his scoring resurgence could be exactly what the Bucks needed to get to the next level in their pursuit for another NBA title in franchise history.