The Milwaukee Bucks could really use Khris Middleton in their series against the Indiana Pacers.
In the first round versus Indiana last season, Middleton averaged 24.7 points, 9.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists on 48.2 percent shooting across six games. Kyle Kuzma, his replacement at the 2025 trade deadline, has been so abysmal that Doc Rivers gave him only 16 minutes on Sunday. In the 129-103 loss, Kuzma finished with three points on 1-of-6 shooting from the field. This team is missing Middleton more than ever.
Now, heading on the road in a 3-1 hole, crushed by the news of Damian Lillard's Achilles tear, the Bucks are staring down the barrel of elimination. On the brink of a third straight first-round exit, only one thing about the Kuzma trade should give them hope for next season.
New financial flexibility gives Bucks chance to rebound in offseason
Lillard's injury isn't just devastating for the player and the Bucks' 2025 playoff aspirations. It will likely sideline the star guard for a substantial, if not the entire portion of next season, as was the case when Kevin Durant tore his Achilles in the 2019 Finals, forcing him to miss all of the following year.
If Lillard does return late in the season (he will be 35 years old then), he may not be the same. The Milwaukee Bucks are facing a massive void on the roster. Not only will they miss the 24.9 points and 7.1 assists Lillard averaged in 2024-25, but his $54 million salary will effectively be dead money.
Moreover, the supposed third option, Kuzma, has failed to provide the boost Milwaukee anticipated in trading for him. He is averaging just six points and shooting 33.3 percent in the playoffs. The only upside to the Middleton-Kuzma deal appears to be the salary cap flexibility gained by unloading Middleton's salary to get under the second apron. Making use of it this offseason is the team's best chance of fielding a more competitive roster next season.
As far as payroll, the Milwaukee Bucks do have some wiggle room. Instead of paying Middleton $34 million next season, they will pay Kuzma $21.4 million. Brook Lopez's $23 million paycheck is coming off the books in free agency.
While there are other relevant considerations, such as whether Bobby Portis will exercise his $13.4 million player option, the former two are the most impactful items. Accounting only for a Lopez departure, the Bucks will be $25 million below the second apron, allowing them to take a swing at free agents - most importantly, some sort of Lillard replacement - this summer.
Adding shot creator a crucial task given Kyle Kuzma clunkers
Replacing Lillard's production is all the important given that Kuzma, the team's third-leading scorer at 14.5 points per game, simply cannot shoot. It's not just his postseason plummet. While Kuzma shot a superficially palatable 45.5 percent from the floor post-trade, his poor 3-point and free-throw shooting make him dismally inefficient.
His 52.2 percent true shooting percentage since February, the month of the trade, ranked in the bottom quartile of players with over 15 minutes per game in that span. For the season, his mark of 51.4 ranked in the bottom 12.2 percent. In the playoffs, his 36.8 percent true shooting is fourth-worst among 121 players playing 15-plus minutes a contest.
The Bucks desperately need a productive point guard to compensate for Lillard's absence next season. Unfortunately, it is not a particularly ripe free agency market, and they do not have much tradeable salary, other than Kuzma, whose continued shooting struggles and questionable decision-making have tanked his value.
Milwaukee may need to spread available cap space around several solid but unexciting moves to at least field a competitive, if ceiling-capped, team next season as Lillard recovers. From a glass-half-full perspective, at least the Kyle Kuzma trade has given them more room to do so.