Khris Middleton underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee shortly after the Bucks were eliminated from the playoffs, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
It was described as a minor procedure, and Middleton is expected to resume basketball activities by July. Sources tell Charania that the operation was planned for whenever Milwaukee’s offseason began.
The 31-year-old swingman has dealt with repeated injury issues over the past year and was limited to 33 games in the regular season. He had surgery on his left wrist last summer that forced him to miss the first 20 games of the season. After returning to action in December, he started experiencing soreness in his knee that sidelined him for another 18 games. Middleton was also experiencing the effects of a sprained left ankle at the time and had blisters on both feet, Charania adds.
Even with the knee issues, Middleton was able to be productive in the playoffs. He averaged 34.6 minutes in the five games against Miami and posted 23.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 6.2 assists per night.
The right knee began bothering Middleton in college when he suffered a torn meniscus at Texas A&M in 2011, writes Jim Owczarski of The Journal-Sentinel. Owczarski points out that concerns over the knee led to Middleton falling to the 39th pick in the 2012 draft, adding that the Bucks’ medical staff created a treatment plan after Milwaukee acquired him from the Pistons in a 2013 trade.
Because Middleton’s knee surgery was relatively routine, it shouldn’t affect his contract situation for the offseason. He has until June 21 to make a decision on a $40.4MM player option for 2023/24. If he decides to turn it down, he could gauge his value on the open market or choose to sign a long-term deal with the Bucks.
That $40 million player option is real inconvenient!
Hopefully he wants to turn it down, and restructure a deal.
I’d take the $40 million then renegotiate, but I don’t know what the health of Middleton truly is moving forward.
I can’t decide whether he’s locked in at least for next year, being he was involved in the HC search, or if the owners and/or front office asked him to be hoping it would convince him to sort of help them out somehow, in regards to his option.
I also can’t decide what the right thing is, mainly because of his health, going forward. Either way, 1 year at $40 million won’t leave much room for any other moves. Probably just enough to squeeze Wes Matthews in for another year though.