Khris Middleton is back?!

[Tyrone Messby]

Really hope we don’t ship out a young wing.

[nate33]

For those thinking he'll be behind all of them, let's revisit mid-season. I promise you he'll be getting 18-21 mpg

He may play 20 minutes per game, but he will be load managed and miss a lot of games. Over the 50 games that he was on the team last year, he only play 827 minutes. That's just 16.5 minutes a game. And at the time, Riley wasn't really ready for prime time and Bilal missed a bunch due to injury. I think he'll average less than that this year.

[nate33]

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[nate33]

There's conflicting information on whether or not that 2nd year is non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed. I don't think it matters much either way. The key is that it's non-guaranteed in Year 3. That's the year we want some cap room to resign Sarr and Kyshawn and/or make a move in free agency.

[nate33]

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[Northwest Roddy]

Ok as a mentor. We do need adults in the room. Maybe he has a future in coaching. Terrible if he’s taking minutes from the youngins

[prime1time]

Middleton is one of the great winning players of the league. Great addition imo. Young guys don't come into the league knowing the game. Good vets lead the way. Patrick Ewing, Khris Middleton, Trae Young, AD every piece matters. You can squibble with decisions but the Wizards look like a professional franchise. A far cry from previous years.

[Paris41]

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I mean, yeah. They were actively trying to lose games in those 2500 minutes without Middleton. This is meaningless.

He’s completely washed and shouldn’t be playing over any of the young players. Why are they giving up draft picks for a player like this? I guess to dump Russell and replace his contract with another bad one?

[nate33]

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I mean, yeah. They were actively trying to lose games in those 2500 minutes without Middleton. This is meaningless.

He’s completely washed and shouldn’t be playing over any of the young players. Why are they giving up draft picks for a player like this?

The off data while Middleton was no longer on the team doesn't count. They count towards his Dallas on/off numbers.

We weren't actively trying to lose over the first 50 games when Middleton was on the team. (Or rather, we weren't blatantly tanking by playing G-Leaguers for 30 minutes a night.) There's no reason to think that we were structurally trying to lose harder when Middleton was on the bench versus when he was playing.

Middleton has always been a freakishly good player from an on/off perspective. He may be washed, but he still knows what he is doing.

[keynote]

I think folks can relax. If Middleton were still a legit 15-20 mpg rotation player, he wouldn't have signed for $5-6m/year on a non-contender. He would have either signed for more (up to the MLE), or he would have signed for similar money with a contender.

Everything about this contract says he's comfortable as a bench warming unc. If he ends up getting steady minutes, that's on Bilal, George, and Riley, not on Dawkins.

[keynote]

My hope is that he's purely a Haslem type, and is behind the young wings (minus Whitmore). But if Riley is a year away, Middleton could be the 10th man in the rotation.

Young, George, Dybantsa, AD, Sarr, Bilal, Bub, Ayton, Johnson should be ahead of him.

Man, I always forget about Champagnie.

Middelton will look good in warmups on the bench, doing his best Stacey King (RIP) impersonation with a towel.

[prime1time]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7429875/2026/07/07/khris-middleton-wizards-trade-6-teams/?unlocked_article_code=1.wFA.qH0O.5UsWCPaKb-B6&source=emp_shared_article&smid=ta-ios-share

The Wizards did not bring Middleton back for, essentially, this coming season for him to take minutes away from any of their young group of wings, including the first overall pick in the draft, AJ Dybantsa. The Wizards have high hopes not only for Dybantsa, but for Kyshawn George, Will Riley and Bilal Coulibaly to play significant roles for them going forward.

But Middleton was a hugely popular player in the Wizards’ locker room during his short stint (48 games) with the team over two seasons, which ended when he was part of the deal that brought Anthony Davis from the Mavericks last February. The Wizards believe that Middleton and CJ McCollum (who was traded to Atlanta for Trae Young last January) were both very good influences in their locker room, with their young guys absorbing the professionalism with which Middleton went about his work every night, even when he wasn’t playing much. They’re hoping to re-create that again in a key season for the franchise.

[Northwest Roddy]

Why didn’t we just buy out Russel and keep the picks?

[Paris41]

The off data while Middleton was no longer on the team doesn't count. They count towards his Dallas on/off numbers.

We weren't actively trying to lose over the first 50 games when Middleton was on the team. (Or rather, we weren't blatantly tanking by playing G-Leaguers for 30 minutes a night.) There's no reason to think that we were structurally trying to lose harder when Middleton was on the bench versus when he was playing.

Middleton has always been a freakishly good player from an on/off perspective. He may be washed, but he still knows what he is doing.

Check the Dallas On/Off numbers..

He’s a boat anchor at this point. If he plays any meaningful minutes, it’s a bad move.

[Wizardspride]

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[FAH1223]

Josh and DA say Khris isn’t coming back to take playing time from the kids.

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[DCZards]

The fact that Middleton wanted to return to DC speaks well of the culture being built by Dawkins & Co.

This team was always going to need a mix of youngins and vets to go from tanking to winning.

I doubt that Middleton plays more than 12-14 mins a game…and he’s likely to be “inactive” more games than he has plays.

Not sweating about losing the second rd picks. The Zards still have at least 15-16 SRPs between now and 2035. SRPs are the most traded commodity in the NBA. Wouldn’t be surprised if the Zards got 3-4 of them back over the next couple of years.

[penbeast0]

any move that takes a single minute away from the young guys is a bad move. I don't know why teams do this while in a rebuild. They gain nothing by doing so. There was already a roster crunch and way less minutes after adding Trae, AD and Dybantsa who will all likely play 32 mpg. For those thinking he'll be behind all of them, let's revisit mid-season. I promise you he'll be getting 18-21 mpg

I don't want to see any of those three getting over 30 a game. Trae and AD have battled injuries (and AD's been losing that battle pretty consistently) while Dybantsa is a rookie with the fabled wall upcoming. There may be guys on the team that don't need minutes limits but those are the 3 that do.

[doclinkin]

The fact that Middleton wanted to return to DC speaks well of the culture being built by Dawkins & Co.

This team was always going to need a mix of youngins and vets to go from tanking to winning.

I doubt that Middleton plays more than 12-14 mins a game…and he’s likely to be “inactive” more games than he has plays.

Not sweating about losing the second rd picks. The Zards still have at least 15-16 SRPs between now and 2035. SRPs are the most traded commodity in the NBA. Wouldn’t be surprised if the Zards got 3-4 of them back over the next couple of years.

This is what I was chiming in to say. The fact that a pros pro wants to return here speaks well of the organization. Guys like CJ talked highly about the Wiz top to bottom. Front office and roster. Bagley returned here after being traded. Now Kash is too. That kind of respect spreads among players.

If we were talking about either Russ or Middleton coming back as a stabilizing Vet mentor, I like Midd as a better choice. Our young cats all spoke highly of the tips and tricks he was showing them. And his game was always versatile, flowing easily between guard and forward. Knowing how to play both offense and D. He can’t quite bring it the same as he used to. But he can teach it.

[9 and 20]

I like that Midds wanted to come back, too. Would be fun to see the old heads share the court from time to time - AD and Middleton. Get the ben gay ready.

Are we done with the roster now? Looks like Bub is the backup PG, mostly by default since there is no competition for it. Or they will use some combo of Will Riley and Hulk Kyshawn, I guess? But that latter option is something that they should have focused on in developmental years, not years when we're trying to win.

If Trae misses any time, the team may struggle. Or who knows, maybe Bub comes back a different player and crushes it with better guys around him.