NBA Trade Deadline SHOCKER: Bucks Trade Khris Middleton for Kyle Kuzma!

Another trade involving an NBA All-Star has been executed. Days after the Luka Dončić-Anthony Davis and De'Aaron Fox-Zach LaVine trades, the Milwaukee Bucks reportedly are sending Khris Middleton to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Kyle Kuzma. ESPN's Shams Charania first reported news of the deal, which also includes AJ Johnson and a pick swap going to Washington and Patrick Baldwin Jr. and a second-round pick going to Milwaukee.

Kuzma, 29, goes from the team with the worst record in the NBA to a team that entered the season with title aspirations. The Bucks (26-22) sit at No. 5 in the East as of Feb. 5, but Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard will always make them dangerous. Kuzma is averaging 15.2 points in 32 games this season, which was his fourth in Washington. He previously played four seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, helping the team win the NBA Finals in 2020 as a key reserve. There are two more years left on Kuzma's contract after this season.

Middleton's Milwaukee Tenure Ends

Middleton, 33, spent the last 12 seasons in Milwaukee after getting traded in 2013 following his rookie year with the Detroit Pistons. He was named an All-Star three times and helped the team win the NBA Finals in 2021, averaging 23.6 points per game during their playoff run. In recent years, Middleton has dealt with various injuries -- including double ankle surgery last offseason that has hindered his 2024-25 campaign. He's averaging 12.6 points while playing just over 23 minutes per game, the lowest since his rookie season. Middleton has a player option for $34 million next year before potentially becoming a free agent in 2026.

A Look at the Supporting Players

The other two pieces in the trade, Johnson and Baldwin, have been largely unproven in their young careers. Johnson was drafted 23rd overall last June and played just seven games as a Buck. Baldwin has 91 games of experience over three seasons with the Wizards and Golden State Warriors, averaging 3.7 points in limited action.

The NBA trade deadline is set for Thursday, Feb. 6, at 3 p.m. ET. The Bucks have traded Khris Middleton to the Wizards, ending his tenure as one of their franchise cornerstones in a multiplayer deal that sends Kyle Kuzma to Milwaukee, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania. The Bucks also sent rookie guard AJ Johnson, their first-round draft selection last year, and a pick swap to Washington, which dealt forward Patrick Baldwin Jr. and second-round draft compensation to Milwaukee, sources told Charania. Middleton, 33, spent the past 11-plus seasons in Milwaukee and was one of the foundational players on the Bucks' championship team in 2021.

Analyzing the Trade: Financial Flexibility and Future Prospects

But he has been hampered by injuries in recent years and continues to recover from offseason surgery on both ankles, which sidelined him for the first 21 games of this season and has limited his production -- his 12.6 points per game is his lowest scoring average since 2013-14. Middleton is owed $31.7 million this season and has a player option for next year worth $34 million. Kuzma is making $23.5 million this season, but his salary drops to $21.4 million next season, followed by $19.4 million in the final year of his deal. To help Milwaukee build out its roster, Kuzma is reducing a portion of the trade bonus in his contract, sources told ESPN's Bobby Marks. The savings drops Milwaukee below the second apron, which will give the Bucks more flexibility to improve their roster. The Bucks can now aggregate salaries to make a trade, which they were previously restricted in doing under the collective bargaining agreement. But to achieve that flexibility, the Bucks traded their longest-tenured player, a longtime running mate to franchise superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Middleton's Legacy in Milwaukee

Middleton rose from G League player to NBA All-Star on the strength of his ability to play well off Antetokounmpo. The three-time All-Star averaged over 20 points four times in a five-year stretch that began with the 2017-18 season and ran through the 2021-22 campaign. He co-starred with Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday to lead Milwaukee to its first NBA title in 50 years with a six-game Finals victory over the Phoenix Suns to cap the 2020-21 post-bubble season. But after the championship run, knee injuries slowed Middleton, as he hyperextended his knee during the 2021-22 regular season before suffering an MCL sprain in his left knee during the playoffs. He missed the start of the following season while recovering from offseason wrist surgery, then missed an additional 18 straight games during the year with knee soreness. The ankle surgeries in the offseason delayed Middleton's season debut until December, and he has appeared in 23 games since, starting in seven. Middleton owns the Bucks franchise record for career 3-pointers with 1,382. He had 12,586 points with Milwaukee to rank as the franchise's third-leading scorer, behind Antetokounmpo and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He ranks second in team history in games played (735) and minutes played (23,039) -- behind Antetokounmpo -- and third in assists (2,990).

Kuzma's Potential and the Risks Involved

Kuzma, 29, is averaging 15.2 points and 5.8 rebounds on 42% shooting this season, the lowest percentage of his career. He injects some youth to a Bucks roster that features three core players -- Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and Brook Lopez -- in their 30s. Kuzma, who is 6-foot-9, also can play in the frontcourt next to Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee's small-ball lineups. However, he has struggled throughout his career shooting from the outside; he is a career 33% 3-point shooter, including a career-low 28% this season. Kuzma signed a four-year, $102 million deal with Washington in July 2023, a contract that came after he averaged 21.2 points and 7.2 rebounds in 64 games. He has had a strong defensive season, according to ESPN Research, which tracked opponents shooting 42.7% against him this season. That falls within the top 25 players with at least 250 field goal attempts. Johnson, 20, has not played much for the Bucks as a rookie and has spent most of the season in the G League. Baldwin, 22 and raised in Wisconsin, has also been used sparingly, appearing in 22 games for the Wizards this season.

The Wizards' Perspective: A Calculated Gamble?

The Milwaukee Bucks are trading NBA champion and Olympic gold medalist Khris Middleton to the Washington Wizards and getting Kyle Kuzma back in the deal, a person with knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Also in the trade: A.J. Johnson goes from the Bucks to the Wizards and Patrick Baldwin Jr. goes from the Wizards to the Bucks, along with a future pick swap and some second-round draft capital, said the person, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the trade had yet to receive league approval. The move, first reported by ESPN, came one day before Thursday's 3 p.m. Eastern trade deadline in the NBA. The 33-year-old Middleton, who has struggled with injuries, leaves the Bucks after spending all but one of his 13 NBA seasons in Milwaukee. The three-time All-Star has been limited to 23 games this season, 16 of those coming off the bench, but was shooting a career-best 51% in those appearances. Middleton helped the Bucks win the NBA title in 2021, helped the United States win gold at the Tokyo Games later that year and was someone that Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo has raved about for years. Milwaukee will become Kuzma's third team, after four years with the Los Angeles Lakers and parts of four years with the Wizards. The 29-year-old has averaged 17.2 points per game for his career, 15.2 points per game this season. The move gives the Bucks some financial flexibility in that it gets them below the second apron — meaning, in the short term, some other trade options may be available to them before the deadline.

A New Beginning for Both Teams?

This season, Middleton is averaging 12.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game while shooting 51.2% overall and 40.7% on 3-pointers. A key part of the Bucks’ championship team in 2021, Middleton has been slowed by injuries since that run and is posting his lowest scoring average since the 2014-15 season. Middleton owns the Bucks franchise record for career 3-pointers with 1,382. He had 12,586 points with Milwaukee to rank as the franchise’s third-leading scorer, behind Antetokounmpo and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He ranks second in team history in games played (735) and minutes played (23,039) — behind Antetokounmpo — and third in assists (2,990). Middleton had 24 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game during the 2021 NBA Finals as the Bucks beat Phoenix in six games. He averaged 20.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 80 career playoff games with Milwaukee. He earned All-Star Game selections in 2019, 2020 and 2022. But injuries limited him over the last few seasons. He was unavailable for the Bucks’ seven-game loss to Boston in the 2022 Eastern Conference semifinals and played in just 33 games in 2022-23 and 55 in 2023-24. Middleton didn’t make his 2024-25 debut until Dec. 6 as he recovered from offseason surgery to each of his ankles. He went scoreless in two games in late January. Washington opened the season hoping to be more competitive with Kuzma, Jordan Poole and new center Jonas Valančiūnas along with No. 2 overall pick Alex Sarr in the mix, too. However, the Wizards are an NBA-worst 8-41 and recently ended a 16-game losing streak when they defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves on Jan. 30. Last season, Kuzma already turned down a reported potential trade to Dallas to remain in Washington. He re-signed with the Wizards in the summer of 2023, inking a reported four-year, $102 million deal. The Brooklyn Nets selected Kuzma with the No. 27 pick in the 2017 Draft, but he was traded to the Lakers on Draft night. He became a significant part of the Lakers’ young roster both before and during LeBron James’ arrival. After enjoying mostly a starting role in his second season, Kuzma then handled a bench reserve in his third and fourth seasons because of Anthony Davis’ presence. The Lakers dealt Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the Wizards in a five-team deal in 2021 that landed Russell Westbrook in L.A. The Bucks selected Johnson with the 23rd overall pick in the 2024 Draft. The 20-year-old guard averaged 2.9 points in seven games with Milwaukee. Baldwin, who went to high school in the Milwaukee area and played his lone college season at Milwaukee, was the 28th overall pick in the 2022 Draft. The 22-year-old forward averaged 2.1 points and 4.6 minutes in 22 games this season. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Only time will tell if this trade will ultimately benefit both teams.

The Verdict: A Calculated Risk

This deal represents a meaningful risk for the Bucks. Even if Middleton's health has been a problem, he is a former All-Star. Kuzma is not, and his struggles this season surely impacted his market. But Milwaukee seemingly believes it can get the version of him that helped the Lakers win a championship in the bubble, and if it does, this has a chance to be a very helpful trade for them. For Washington, the deal doesn't make a ton of obvious sense either. Sure, the team gets a pick swap and a chance to see what AJ Johnson can do, but Middleton doesn't fit their timeline, nor is he necessarily projected to be a free agent this summer, as he has a player option worth $34 million, which he's likely to pick up. The Wizards may be hoping to mentor Middleton and use his experience to develop younger players, or perhaps they saw an opportunity to acquire a valuable asset without giving up too much in return. Ultimately, the long-term success of this trade remains to be seen. The future of both teams may well depend on it.