Bucks' Doc Rivers reveals true reason behind intriguing Khris Middleton move amid trade rumors
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The Milwaukee Bucks caused a bit of a fuss on social media on Wednesday when Chris Haynes of TNT reported that they will be bringing Khris Middleton off the bench during their upcoming contest against the San Antonio Spurs. Taurean Prince will be starting in Middleton’s stead, and this move certainly raised a few eyebrows considering that there is less than month to go before the trade deadline, and the Bucks could potentially dangle the 33-year-old forward in hopes of acquiring an upgrade.
Regardless, fans need not read too much into the Bucks’ decision to demote Middleton out of the starting five. Head coach Doc Rivers revealed that this decision was only due to precautionary reasons especially after Middleton underwent surgery on his ankles during the offseason, delaying his start to the 2024-25 campaign.
“He’s not starting tonight, but (it’s) more just a minute thing. He keeps getting the tendinitis. It’s just not improving to the place he wants it or we want it. And so we just gotta monitor it. We’re cutting his minutes back a little bit and just trying to make sure he can get through this,” Rivers said, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic.
Middleton has endured an injury-ravaged past few seasons; last year, he didn’t play over 30 minutes until his 19th game of the season. He missed a total of 27 games during the 2023-24 campaign, although it is important to note that he did turn up for the Bucks in the playoffs, emerging as arguably their best player in their six-game series loss to the Indiana Pacers.
Over the offseason, the goal of the surgeries was to preserve Middleton’s long-term health, dealing with the ankle problems that have caused him to miss plenty of games in the past. And it looks like it will be a slow ramp-up for the 33-year-old as he continues to play his way back to full health.
Khris Middleton’s production is dipping for the Bucks
No one can ever question the importance of Khris Middleton to the Bucks franchise. Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo were the original duo that brought Milwaukee to relevancy in the mid-2010s, and Middleton has always been a reliable hand for the team in crunch time, serving as their primary shot-creator from the perimeter.
But Middleton’s injury problems have caused his production to fall off quite a bit for the Bucks. He’s entering their Wednesday night contest against the Spurs averaging just 12.7 points per game — his lowest since his sophomore season.
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