Milwaukee Bucks: 3 bold predictions for Khris Middleton in 2021-22

After several years of fans questioning whether he was a good enough complementary option to win a championship with, Khris Middleton finally helped the Milwaukee Bucks get over the hump last year.

He was his usual reliable self again last season, putting up regular season averages of 20.4 points, six rebounds, and 5.4 assists on 47.6 percent field goal shooting and 41.4 percent 3-point shooting. He now has averaged 20+ points, five+ rebounds, and four+ assists in three of the last four seasons, and there is little reason to believe he won’t be right around those same numbers again this season. He obviously played a key part in the playoff run, averaging 23.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 5.1 assists in his 23 playoff games, and he had five 30-point games during that stretch.

As he looks to continue that success, here are three bold predictions for how Middleton will fare in the upcoming 2021-22 season.

Bold Prediction No. 1 – Khris Middleton joins the 50/40/90 club with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021-22

Middleton very narrowly missed out on the 50/40/90 club with the Bucks two years ago, finishing just 0.3 field goal percentage points short. Then, last season, he was at 47.6 percent from the field, 41.4 percent from three, and 89.8 percent from the line. Once again, just a few percentage points away.

The free throws and threes should be very attainable, but he has never been over 50 percent from the field. It largely will come down to how well he shoots inside the arc, given that his 3-point percentages have been pretty consistent as of late. In 2019-20 (when he got the closest to reaching 50/40/90 shooting), the forward shot a career-high 54.6 percent from inside the arc and 52.7 percent from mid-range.

Last year, that mid-range percentage came down to 45.1 percent. If he had matched his mid-range shooting from the previous season and everything else stayed the same, his field goal percentage last season would have been 49.9 percent. It certainly isn’t a guarantee that he will get back to his mid-range shooting from 2019, but he has shown that he can be at that level for an entire year.

In addition to this, the league should be loading up to stop Giannis Antetokounmpo more than ever after the historic playoff run he had, so Middleton should benefit a lot from the insane attention that Giannis generates. It will take quite a season for him to do it, but looking at his past couple of years, a 50/40/90 season is not at all unattainable for Middleton.