Khris Middleton, should he be an of-season target?

[isaacthompson]

Middleton has some of the best on/off court splits in the LEAGUE. I think he is #7 overall?

I would be willing to give him a 14/15 mil deal. No joke. Dude is good

7th in RPM too. He's in some pretty fine company.

[OldSkoolCool]

It isn't just a numbers thing either.

He plays hard and gets into guys. Plays with a bit of anger and picks up the Bucks when he steps on the floor. He can take over times and has probably the smoothest and most efficient mid-ranged game in the league atm. Those who think DD is anything more than a awful mid-ranged player should watch Middleton for 3 or 4 games for some perspective.

[raptors999]

It isn't just a numbers thing either.

He plays hard and gets into guys. Plays with a bit of anger and picks up the Bucks when he steps on the floor. He can take over times and has probably the smoothest and most efficient mid-ranged game in the league atm. Those who think DD is anything more than a awful mid-ranged player should watch Middleton for 3 or 4 games for some perspective.

I'm sold. Offer him a ridiculous 3 year deal with a player option on the third year and a no-trade clause like Parsons and get him now or in two years.

[raptorredy]

He may be a decent player. But does he really move the needle for us OR are these the types of players the Raptors are going to have to go after simply because they can't compete with the bigger markets. Raptors have a 2 year window to go under the radar and try to sign a top player or 2 whilst most of the east gets it together. I hope he is not our first choice. I don't mind signing him after acquiring a notable PF.. We are in desperate need of a PF...

[WJF]

He may be a decent player. But does he really move the needle for us OR are these the types of players the Raptors are going to have to go after simply because they can't compete with the bigger markets. Raptors have a 2 year window to go under the radar and try to sign a top player or 2 whilst most of the east gets it together. I hope he is not our first choice. I don't mind signing him after acquiring a notable PF.. We are in desperate need of a PF...

He would 100% move the needle. Middleton would clearly be the starter at the 3 spot providing us with arguably our best 2 way player on the roster. He may not be a star, but to me he is in the mix with wings like Parsons, Batum, Tobias Harris, and Jeff Green.
6'6" 3/4 in flat feet, he is a 6'8" 220 lb wing who is only 23 years old and plays the right way. Replace him for Ross and we are better, we still need more changes, but we are better.

[golden]

It isn't just a numbers thing either.

He plays hard and gets into guys. Plays with a bit of anger and picks up the Bucks when he steps on the floor. He can take over times and has probably the smoothest and most efficient mid-ranged game in the league atm. Those who think DD is anything more than a awful mid-ranged player should watch Middleton for 3 or 4 games for some perspective.

At some point we need to give Jason Kidd some big props for player development. For all his "douchey-ness", the guy can flat out coach. He's got the Bucks 2nd in defense in the league, playing very young players big minutes and dealing with massive adversity. Bucks lost 2 starters (Sanders, Jabari) and arguably their best player (Brandon Knight) mid-season in a blockbuster trade.

You toss in all the early controversy that Kidd had to deal with on the Nets last season, and you have to conclude that Kidd appears really good at adapting to change, and also very good at developing young players quickly. Kind of like the anti-Casey, in many ways.

Point being: if you sign a guy like Middleton, does he regress under another coach, especially Casey?

[raptors999]

At some point we need to give Jason Kidd some big props for player development. For all his "douchey-ness", the guy can flat out coach. He's got the Bucks 2nd in defense in the league, playing very young players big minutes and dealing with massive adversity. Bucks lost 2 starters (Sanders, Jabari) and arguably their best player (Brandon Knight) mid-season in a blockbuster trade.

You toss in all the early controversy that Kidd had to deal with on the Nets last season, and you have to conclude that Kidd appears really good at adapting to change, and also very good at developing young players quickly. Kind of like the anti-Casey, in many ways.

Point being: if you sign a guy like Middleton, does he regress under another coach, especially Casey?

Yeah, firing Casey is step one. Even with Middleton the defense will still suck. He helps with his length but the Casey system still means one good pass leads to an open three or 5 on 2 in the interior

[distorsun]

Middleton's a good target. Hard to gauge the interest there will be in him in the summer though. Seems like a more under the radar name, and that could mean he's gettable is Milwaukee doesn't want to spend much to keep him.

Also, no thanks on Wes Matthews. Dude just suffered one of the worst sports injuries by tearing his achilles. Big red flag to stay away.

Yes. Which means you could also take a chance and get a good discount.
This year was supposed to be his big payday;I don't think Port will lowball him; but he will certainly NOT get his fair market value.
Very few players recover from that injury to come back 100%. But if we got him at the 2; then Ross become expendable.

[distorsun]

At some point we need to give Jason Kidd some big props for player development. For all his "douchey-ness", the guy can flat out coach. He's got the Bucks 2nd in defense in the league, playing very young players big minutes and dealing with massive adversity. Bucks lost 2 starters (Sanders, Jabari) and arguably their best player (Brandon Knight) mid-season in a blockbuster trade.

You toss in all the early controversy that Kidd had to deal with on the Nets last season, and you have to conclude that Kidd appears really good at adapting to change, and also very good at developing young players quickly. Kind of like the anti-Casey, in many ways.

Point being: if you sign a guy like Middleton, does he regress under another coach, especially Casey?

Yes. Middleton would regress under Casey. It was clear since last year that Kidd already owned Casey; remember Tor was a better team all around and were leading the series 3-2. Kidd deserves his credit and he's on his way to be a very very good coach in the nba. Although, I still question the MCW deal, I'm really not a fan.

[WJF]

I for one don't think Casey will be back for next season, especially if we continue to limp into the layoffs and have a 1st round exit. We got off to a hot start but once teams had us scouted Casey showed he could not make adjustments.

[ceez]

watched some tape of him this weekend. he's got a real nice stroke but isn't one dimensional and does a good job defending. i'd throw money at him.

[OldSkoolCool]

At some point we need to give Jason Kidd some big props for player development. For all his "douchey-ness", the guy can flat out coach. He's got the Bucks 2nd in defense in the league, playing very young players big minutes and dealing with massive adversity. Bucks lost 2 starters (Sanders, Jabari) and arguably their best player (Brandon Knight) mid-season in a blockbuster trade.

You toss in all the early controversy that Kidd had to deal with on the Nets last season, and you have to conclude that Kidd appears really good at adapting to change, and also very good at developing young players quickly. Kind of like the anti-Casey, in many ways.

Point being: if you sign a guy like Middleton, does he regress under another coach, especially Casey?

I agred the Jason Kidd asterik should absolutely be mentioned.

Just goes to show how an actual good coach handles player development and grows young guys talent. For an example look at the improvement from Tyler Ennis since putting on a Bucks jersey. It just adds more ammo for the "Casey is an awful head coach" mini-gun. Any head coach we bring in, his number 1 attribute should be player development imo. And not for individual skills but IQ skills.

[golden]

I agred the Jason Kidd asterik should absolutely be mentioned.

Just goes to show how an actual good coach handles player development and grows young guys talent. For an example look at the improvement from Tyler Ennis since putting on a Bucks jersey. It just adds more ammo for the "Casey is an awful head coach" mini-gun. Any head coach we bring in, his number 1 attribute should be player development imo. And not for individual skills but IQ skills.

Actually, didn't want to turn this into another #FireCasey thread. There's plenty of that to go around. lol.

The main point is to be wary of players that over-achieve in contract years under one particular coach and/or system, with no prior history. Guys who play for Mike D'Antoni are famous for that, and Jerry Sloan's guys to some degree. Middleton's a young player, so it could be just his natural progression, but you don't want to get into an massive overpay, and then end up with the wrong coach/player combination. Jimmy Butler at max salary could also have risk, with Thibs being the coach.

In some ways I'd prefer if we found the "next Khris Middleton", just before he blows up and ideally have him locked into a team friendly contract for a few years. Middleton was basically filler in the Knight-Jennings trade, I believe.

[Cody73]

Ilove Middleton, but look at his contract. Not only is he a RFA, he has a team Option this year. That makes him a huge risk to go after. Right now, I have him 2nd behind my main boy, who you all know by now so I won't bring up his name yet again.

That being said, would the Bucks want Ross?

[Mediumcore]

Any chance Bruno gets some burn next season? He has a higher ceiling than Middleton doesn't he?