The Bucks intend to re-sign all of their top free agents after reaching the Eastern Conference finals. But is that the best course of action?
The biggest question mark surrounds Khris Middleton, generally considered the second-best player on the team behind MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo. Middleton will opt out of the last year of his contract, which would pay him $13MM, and head to unrestricted free agency.
Once marquee agents such as Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler come off the board, Middleton would be viewed as a nice consolation prize for teams with salary-cap space that don’t land one of the big stars. Middleton averaged 18.3 PPG and career highs of 6.0 RPG and 4.3 APG this season after posting an average of 20.1 PPG last season. Middleton is a career 38.8% 3-point shooter and, at 27, in his prime years.
The nagging question is can Middleton be the second-best player on a championship team? Middleton had a 30-point outburst in Game 4 against the Raptors but averaged 10.2 PPG in the five other games of the conference finals.
A max offer for Middleton would be an approximate $189.6MM commitment over five years; he could receive a max of $140.6MM over four years from another team. Whether he gets the max or something close to it, it’s going to be awfully expensive to retain him.
An alternative for the Bucks would be to shoot higher themselves and try to convince a big-name free agent to come their way. The other approach would be to absorb the salary of an All-Star caliber player in a trade with the savings they’ll get by allowing Middleton to sign elsewhere. That doesn’t seem to be the way the Bucks are leaning but it would be a bolder approach.
That leads us to our question of the day: Should the Bucks go all out to re-sign Khris Middleton or should they seek another star to pair up with Giannis Antetokounmpo?
Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.
I hate to say it cause I love him but 37 mil a year is too much. Whether it’s this off season or next, we will get a Klay Thompson type player who can consistently score along side Giannis. Who knowsz. Maybe Leonard. Point is stars will come to play with Giannis if we have the money.
There aren’t many Klay Thompson-type players in the league. All those 2-way players are in this FA and Klay is the best shooter other than KD. Klay, KD, Kawhi, Jimmy Buckets, Middleton.
Next FA you’ve got AD/Draymond as the best 2-way players.
They should try and run the team back if at all possible. They were close and honestly I dont know if they can get better complimentary pieces while Giannis is in his prime.
And if Middleton scores more then 20 points in game 5 and 6 combined(as our #2) The Bucks Arron the finals
I think the second best player is Malcolm Brogdon. Guards the best player on the other team and can score in bunches himself. Outstanding player. Cannot lose him.
I agree about Brogdon. Him and Hill were much more consistent in the playoffs than Middleton. I’d also see if I could trade Bledsoe in the off-season as two years in a row now he’s tanked come playoff time.
And they resigned bledsoe jeopardizing bringing brogdon back. Dumb move. No way they get to dump that bledsoe contract this year.
I love Khris, but I do think a $32m max is too much for someone who hasn’t shown much scoring consistency this season, let alone the postseason. If I’m Horst, I clear cap room (trade Ersan and a second with no salary in return, perhaps) and offer the max to Kawhi or Klay. If they sign, renounce Khris and let him walk. If they won’t sign in Milwaukee, Khris’ cap hold is still on your books so you can go over the cap to resign him with Bird rights.
Klay staying with Warriors or playing with Lakers (his father played there and hes actually good friends with LeBron).
He can be the second best player on a championship team, maybe just not on the Bucks right now. At least as long as their best player isn’t a first option in big half court possessions (leaving that on him). How many second best players could take on that role on a championship team?
In a world where every player is a FA every year, he’s not a max guy. But that’s almost irrelevant. On a 60 win contender, hoping to get better, the question is what’s their alternative? If there isn’t one, then the choice is to descend (and maybe lose GA in a year) or sign him and move forward. I don’t think it will necessarily take max, but, first and foremost, he has to be re-signed.
Start at 4/112. Promise more say. Giannis wasn’t all that vs Raptors either.
Giannis still played very good you know…
22.7/13.5/5.5/2.7/1.2/44.8/33.3/58.3 I would give him a 7/10 which is very good.
K-Midd played a very weak series…
13.7/6.8/4.2/0.0/0.3/41.1/37.5/76.9 I would give him a 4/10 which is in the red he just wasn’t any good at all.
Unlike Giannis that was a reason for them winning games, K-Mid was a reason why they lost games.
Overall this year, even in the RS he hasn’t been anywhere near the player he was last year, in my opinion get rid, go for someone better.
Middleton was also the primary defender on Kawhi all series, and the Bucks held him to 44.2% shooting (compared to 53% vs. Philly and 55.6% vs. Orlando). Middleton’s offensive numbers were disappointing, but they likely would’ve looked better if he wasn’t exerting so much energy on D.
Using per-game stats work best with prioritized players and the new coach revolved everything around Giannis. Middlton was given two jobs in these playoffs, defend the top player & hit 3s. He did well vs Kawhi and hit 44% on 3s. He had a better playoffs last year, but was still good in the analytics 2019.
Don’t ignore Middlton’effect on Giannis either. They go back to 2013 and none of the others do. The Bucks without KM would not have the same hold on GA. He is FA in 2021.
If someone does offer 4/140, tough call for the FO. Coach Bud may not require a ‘maxable’ 2nd-best player for his offense. He came to Milwaukee for Giannis. But GA could leave without the necessary spending.
Who to get in KM’s place?– probably nobody close. They will say, somebody like Khris. WellLLL here he is.
Here’s the thing though, the only way they won’t max him is if he takes a very significant discount (i.e. Nowitzki or Duncan) If you low-ball Middleton and not offer him the max well then the small markets like Utah, Indiana or Dallas would be happy to overpay as Utah and Indiana are legit 1 piece away from a lucky title run and Dallas thinks they are. Big market teams like the Lakers, Clippers or Knicks might think he would be a good complimentary piece or a consolation prize.
Honestly the Bucks have to go over the cap to sign him wether it’s 25 or 32 million so what difference does it make? Why chance a low offer and offend Middleton and have him walk.
Unless they have a back channel that says Kawhi or Durant would really really really like to play with Giannis. Then by all means let Middleton walk and trade Bledsoe to make the cap space.
Middleton is strongest as a 3rd option quiet as it is kept!