Bucks-Wizards Trade Grades: Kuzma Heads To Milwaukee For Middleton

The Milwaukee Bucks have traded Khris Middleton, 2024 first-round pick AJ Johnson and swap rights to their 2028 first round pick to the Washington Wizards for Kyle Kuzma, Patrick Baldwin Jr. and a 2025 second-round pick.

Kuzma is having a down year with the Wizards tanking, averaging 15.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists while shooting just 28.1 percent from three.

Middleton has looked a shadow of the three-time All-Star he’s been, averaging 12.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists. He has missed 25 of Milwaukee’s 48 games after double ankle surgery in the offseason.

The Athletic’s Josh Robbins was first to report on the construct of the deal.

The Wizards and Bucks have continued to discuss a potential trade centered around sending Kyle Kuzma and Patrick Baldwin Jr. to Milwaukee for Khris Middleton and rookie AJ Johnson, and including some exchange of a draft pick or picks, league sources tell @davidaldridgedc and me.

— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) February 5, 2025

Bucks Not Finished Just Yet

While Kuzma for Middleton appears a downgrade in a vacuum, there are key elements of this deal that could make Milwaukee look like winners in under 30 hours.

The trade brings the Bucks roughly $300,000 under the second apron, significantly improving the team’s trade flexibility for more moves.

Kuzma reduced a portion of the trade kicker in his contract to help the Bucks accomplish this.

The 29-year-old is owed $23.5 million this season, $21.5 million the year after and $19.4 million in 2026-27. The decreasing salary also helps the Bucks’ future financial flexibility.

If Milwaukee has any hopes of seriously contending for a title this season, more absolutely has to be done to improve the depth around Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, Brook Lopez and now Kuzma.

Did The Bucks Give Up On Middleton?

Trading Middleton, despite recently returning from injury and looking like he was working back to a good rhythm, is a statement the Bucks did not believe he could be the player they need him to be come the postseason.

Helping get the deal over the line was also a reported vote of confidence from Antetokounmpo for Kuzma, per NBA insider Jake Fischer.

I’m told a key element of the trade talks that brought Kyle Kuzma to Milwaukee in exchange for championship mainstay Khris Middleton: a large vote of support for Kuzma from one Giannis Antetokounmpo.

— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) February 5, 2025

Many are looking at Kuzma’s down season as the Bucks devaluing Middleton too much. It’s also worth remembering that role players and veterans can also get devalued or forgotten about when languishing with a tanking team. It’s possible Kuzma now feels incentivized to perform as a high-level role player again.

Middleton will likely be hoping he gets rerouted from Washington to avoid a tanking situation, or, at the very least, gets bought out. Although, he has a $34 million player option for 2025-26, so a buyout may not be in the cards.

Johnson had only featured in seven games this season, so he was immaterial to the Bucks’ immediate aspirations.

What Middleton accomplished during his Bucks tenure is undeniable. He finishes as the franchise’s third-leading all-time scorer, the all-time leader in 3-pointers and a 2021 NBA champion.

Grading The Deal

Milwaukee Bucks: B- (*)

The Bucks have effectively traded the risk that Middleton won’t be on the court often enough for the risk that Kuzma in a winning environment can be the high-end role player he was in 2019-20, when he won a ring with the Los Angeles Lakers.

For a player who hasn’t looked himself after double ankle surgery and played a combined 88 regular season games over the last two seasons, there was never going to be a home run deal.

If the gamble pays off, acquiring a player four years younger is a win. The asterisk next to the B- is because I’d also say evaluating this deal needs to be done after the trade deadline at 3 p.m. EST Thursday. Depending on what the Bucks can do between now and then because of the added flexibility is a vital part of this deal.

Washington Wizards: B

The 2028 first-round pick swap rights could be juicy. Who knows where both Antetokounmpo and Lillard will be by then. That’s the most important part of the deal for the Wizards here. Middleton’s player option makes a buyout tricky, so it will be interesting to see if they can find a new home for him by Thursday or look to present him as an expiring contract for trades next season — presuming he activates the player option.

While this is good value for Kuzma with the way his 2024-25 season has gone, it’s likely the Wizards could have received more in each of the last two years when Kuzma was putting up over 20 points per game and generally playing better basketball overall.