Jon Horst: Khris Middleton trade about maximizing Bucks' window - ESPN

MILWAUKEE — Bucks general manager Jon Horst said trading franchise cornerstone Khris Middleton after 12 seasons in Milwaukee was «the hardest transaction» he has made as an executive, but did so to «maximize the window» for a championship.

«It's still the awesome responsibility to try to take this franchise and maximize the window that we have now as best we can,» Horst told reporters Monday night, before his team's 125-111 loss to the Golden State Warriors. «What we think gives us the best chance to win, and figure out how to continue winning going forward. There's a very narrow set of opportunities that we felt that we could do that, and this was one of them.»

Milwaukee traded Middleton, rookie guard AJ Johnson and a pick swap to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Kyle Kuzma, Patrick Baldwin Jr. (who was rerouted to San Antonio) and a second-round pick before last week's trade deadline. The Bucks also acquired center Jericho Sims from the New York Knicks as part of the deal.

Middleton, the franchise leader in 3-pointers, had been with the Bucks since the 2013-14 season and was part of the 2020-21 championship team. However, he missed the first 21 games of this season after undergoing offseason surgery on both ankles and has been slow to regain his form — he's averaging his fewest points (12.6) since his first season with the Bucks and was playing his fewest minutes (23.2) since he was a rookie.

Horst said Middleton's availability did not have much impact on his decision to make the move.

«Collectively, I think we're deeper in the spots we needed to be deeper,» Horst said. «This gave us an opportunity to diversify a little bit, to kind of put money and talent and roster spots in other places where I thought we