The Miami Heat have already made one of the loudest moves of the offseason, landing Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis in a massive deal last week. But that splash came with a steep price: Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kasparas Jakucionis are gone, along with three first-round picks, a second-round pick and a pick swap. With the roster thinned out and the money tight, Miami still has work to do.
That’s where Khris Middleton comes into the picture.
Middleton is out there in free agency, and on paper, he looks like a clean fit for what the Heat are trying to patch together. Miami has already added Tim Hardaway Jr. on a one-year deal and brought back Simone Fontecchio, but the depth chart still needs more help after the blockbuster trade. Middleton, 34, could give them another veteran option with real familiarity around the core pieces now in place.
His path to this point started back in 2012, when the Detroit Pistons took him in the second round out of Texas A&M. He spent just one season in Detroit before being shipped to Milwaukee with Brandin Knight in the Brandon Jennings deal.
From there, Middleton carved out the kind of career that made him one of the league’s most reliable perimeter threats, especially from deep. That shooting helped him land a five-year, $70 million extension with the Bucks.
As Giannis Antetokounmpo rose into one of the NBA’s best players, Middleton became a central part of Milwaukee’s run of yearly playoff trips. He earned the first of his three All-Star selections in 2019, then later joined Antetokounmpo and Portis in winning the title in 2021.
The last few years in Milwaukee were tougher. Middleton battled multiple injuries after signing two more extensions with the team, and his Bucks run ended when he was traded to the Washington Wizards for Kyle Kuzma.
His shooting numbers dropped fast in Washington, but the stay didn’t last long. He was moved again at the deadline to the Dallas Mavericks, where he bounced back and showed he still has a productive season or two left.
That’s what makes Miami an interesting landing spot. With Antetokounmpo and Portis already in the building, Middleton would be the latest attempt to recreate pieces of that 2021 Bucks group. Hardaway Jr. brings some overlapping skills, but the chance to reunite with one of the league’s top stars again could be enough to pull Middleton toward a veteran-minimum deal and one more run at a championship.
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