3 Bucks who must immediately step up to fill the Khris Middleton void

Gary Trent Jr.

Almost guaranteed to be Milwaukee's starting shooting guard on opening night, Gary Trent Jr. is yet another player who will now shoulder more responsibility following these developments.

Offensively, Trent will now get more touches. The Bucks need him to provide reliable complementary scoring, and he can certainly do that. Over the past three-and-a-half years in Toronto, Trent averaged 16.4 points while knocking down 38 percent of his triples on seven attempts per contest. If that Trent comes to play for the Milwaukee Bucks, it would be a sizeable boost in Khris Middleton's absence.

Trent's importance on offense will go hand-in-hand with his play defensively. Even with Middleton in the lineup, the 25-year-old guard's defense was set to be a prominent X-factor for the Bucks, but now, he will have to perform on that end while also upping his scoring. It's a lot to ask of Trent, but he must embrace the next man up mentality.

Trent came to Milwaukee on a minimum contract to prove his worth with a championship contender, and there will now be a spotlight on him early in the season, something he will undoubtedly embrace. Since he got to Milwaukee, Trent has done nothing but express his desire to do whatever it takes to win games, and his importance in that regard has now increased mightily.