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 involved in the trade: A.J. Johnson goes from the Bucks to the Wizards and Patrick Baldwin 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 2 p.m. trade deadline.
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%.
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 Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo has raved about for years.
“It’s definitely a plus having Khris back,” Antetokounmpo said earlier this season when Middleton was available again after ankle issues. “Man, he takes us to the next level with his IQ, decision-making, shot ability, defense.”
The Bucks will be 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 for his career and 15.2 this season.
The move gives the Bucks some financial flexibility in that it gets them below the second apron — meaning, in the short term, other trade options may be available to them before the deadline.
Being over the second apron had limited the moves the Bucks could make as they tried to upgrade an aging roster. The Bucks (26-22) are in fifth place in the Eastern Conference after exiting in the first round of the playoffs each of the last two seasons.
They ended up trading a player whose No. 22 jersey could hang from the Fiserv Forum rafters at some point.
Middleton owns the Bucks record for career 3-pointers with 1,382. He scored 12,586 points for Milwaukee to rank third 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 averaged 24 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists during the 2021 NBA Finals as the Bucks beat the Phoenix Suns in six games. He averaged 20.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 80 career playoff games with Milwaukee and earned All-Star 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 the Boston Celtics 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 both ankles. He went scoreless in two games in late January.
Kuzma has dealt with his own issues this season. He is shooting 42% from the field, 28.1% on 3-point attempts and 60.2% on free throws — all career lows. He scored 31 and 22 points in his last two games.
The Bucks selected Johnson with the 23rd 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 pick in the 2022 draft. The 22-year-old forward averaged 2.1 points and 4.6 minutes in 22 games this season.
AP’s Steve Megargee in Milwaukee contributed.
