Milwaukee Bucks: Khris Middleton's All-Star case has never been better

NBA All-Star voting has officially begun, and it appears that the Milwaukee Bucks will have several players gunning to earn the honors.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is well on his way to racking up his fifth consecutive nomination and certainly appears to be a lock for a starting spot in the Eastern Conference frontcourt. Meanwhile, Khris Middleton has earned All-Star honors in two consecutive seasons, and he is looking to earn his third.

Khris Middleton should be a lock for All-Star consideration with his career year for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Middleton has steadily improved over his past two All-Star seasons, and he has done it in the early going this year. The forward is having another fantastic year shooting the ball, averaging a career-high 21.4 points on .510/.439/.933 shooting splits. The forward has consistently improved his offensive efficiency in each of the past three seasons, and his prowess as a three-level scorer has never been better.

Following Milwaukee’s Christmas Day win against the Golden State Warriors, where he scored 31 points and grabbed five rebounds, Middleton spoke about his offseason efforts to continuously get better:

"“That’s what it’s all about. In some ways, you want to drive yourself crazy by telling yourself that there’s always something you can be better at and try to be perfect although you never can be. But I think that’s what it’s all about, just trying to find ways to be better, just as a complete basketball player, not just as a scorer or shooter.”"

In addition to his top-tier shooting, another area that Middleton seemingly worked on this offseason was his role as a facilitator. Middleton has shown his surprising evolution as a playmaker by tallying a career-best 5.8 assists. That number leads the Bucks, and the forward’s contributions as a distributor have been significant for a team that ranks seventh in assists per game (26.4).

Despite the career numbers, Khris Middleton will face stiff competition in making his third All-Star appearance.

The Eastern Conference is loaded with talent far and wide, which means there will certainly be several snubs for players that miss out on All-Star honors this season. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, and Joel Embiid appear to be the top-three jockeying for starting honors in the frontcourt balloting, but the reserve spots are open for the taking.

Among the widespread collection of talent that the conference has to offer, Middleton deserves to be an All-Star. He is putting up career numbers shooting the ball with otherworldly efficiency while still finding time to get his teammates involved as he leads the Bucks in assists per game.

This is the best that Middleton has ever looked, and he unquestionably deserves to be recognized for it. It certainly helped his case in the previous two seasons that the Bucks were dominating in the regular season, which has unfortunately not been the case early on this year.

Next. Milwaukee Bucks: 3 defensive trends worth monitoring at quarter mark. dark

Nevertheless, if Middleton gets snubbed for All-Star honors, there will surely be controversy following close behind.

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Milwaukee Bucks: Khris Middleton’s All-Star case has never been better

By Dalton Sell | Jan 31, 2021

Khris Middleton should be a lock for All-Star consideration with his career year for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Despite the career numbers, Khris Middleton will face stiff competition in making his third All-Star appearance.