Bucks land Kuzma for Middleton
The Kings will unite newcomers Valanciunas and Zach LaVine and try to fight into a playoff spot.
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Daily TribuneThe Kings will unite newcomers Valanciunas and Zach LaVine and try to fight into a playoff spot.
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Photo Courtesy of NBA
NEW YORK (AFP) — The Milwaukee Bucks traded All-Star forward Khris Middleton to the Washington Wizards for Kyle Kuzma on Wednesday, according to multiple reports as tensions grew ahead of Thursday’s National Basketball Association (NBA) trade deadline.
The deal also sends forward Patrick Baldwin and a second-round 2025 NBA Draft pick while the Wizards also obtained guard A.J. Johnson and a first-round pick swap in 2028.
More moves league-wide are likely ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline, with Phoenix benching Kevin Durant for Wednesday’s game at Oklahoma City with a left ankle sprain.
That sparked talk Durant is the subject of trade talks with great speculation he could return to the Golden State Warriors, with whom he won NBA titles in 2017 and 2018.
The Bucks, 26-22 and on a three-game losing skid, made the swap with the NBA-worst Wizards (8-41) to land 29-year-old forward Kuzma, who has averaged 15.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists this season.
Middleton, 33, helped the Bucks win the NBA crown in 2021 and had been a mainstay of the Bucks since coming over in a 2013 trade after spending his rookie campaign in Detroit.
He underwent off-season surgeries on both ankles and did not make his debut this season until 6 December.
For his career, Middleton has averaged 16.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.2 steals a game.
The Wizards made another deal, according to ESPN, sending Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas to the Sacramento Kings for two second-round draft picks and 20-year-old French guard Sidy Cissoko, who had been obtained from San Antonio on Monday in the deal that sent De’Aaron Fox from the Kings to the Spurs.
The Kings will unite newcomers Valanciunas and Zach LaVine and try to fight into a playoff spot. They rank eighth in the Western Conference at 25-24 — the same record as Phoenix and Golden State.
Other reported deals on Wednesday sent German power forward Daniel Theis from New Orleans to Oklahoma City and Boston Celtics reserve guard Jaden Springer to the Houston Rockets.
