Milwaukee Bucks: 3 goals for Khris Middleton during 2021-22 season

Khris Middleton finally getting his 50/40/90 season for the Milwaukee Bucks

This one is more of a vanity goal than anything else for Khris Middleton. You don’t get any special awards specifically for hitting 50/40/90 (50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3, and 90 percent from the free throw line), but it’s a nice way to show how efficient of a scorer a player is.

Middleton came excruciatingly close to this mark two seasons ago but barely missed it when he finished 49.7 percent from the field, 41.5 percent from 3, and 91.6 from the line. He wasn’t as close in 2021 but still hit a very respectable 47.6 percent from the field, 41.4 percent from deep, and 89.8 from the line.

Middleton was actually on pace to hit 50/40/90 prior to the All-Star Break last season too.

Post-All Star, Middleton shot 45 percent from the field, and that all but tanked his chances at the historic mark. The big dip was in his 2-point field goal percentage, which saw him drop from 54.6 percent in 2019-20 to 50.8 percent; still a solid number but not if you want to hit 50/40/90.

The biggest drop came from his midrange shots. According to Basketball-Reference, from 10 to 16 feet out, Middleton shot 5.2 percent worse in 2020-21, and from 16 feet to the 3-point arc, he shot 7.1 percent worse. Those are typically Middleton’s bread and butter, but that’s actually closer to what he tends to shoot on long midrange shots in his career.

Per Cleaning the Glass, Middleton’s 56 percent on long midrange shots in 2019-20 was in the 95th percentile among all forwards that season. He was ridiculously good on those shots, but if he can just bump those long midrange numbers up to 50-to-52 percent, he could have a good shot. And although you don’t get anything specifically for hitting 50/40/90, it would certainly help his case for the final goal.