One former NBA player made the case that Milwaukee Bucks wing Khris Middleton is on the same level as Miami Heat wing Jimmy Butler.
Former Boston Celtics guard Evan Turner recently took to Twitter and explained that, like Butler, Middleton has also helped lead his team to the NBA Finals as a go-to scorer, as Middleton’s Bucks made the 2021 NBA Finals.
Khris finished games in the playoffs to get them to the championship round and he also did the same in the finals
— Evan Turner (@thekidet) August 10, 2023
Middleton, 31, has played 11 seasons in the NBA and 10 as a member of the Bucks franchise. Wrist and knee injuries limited him to just 33 games in the 2022-23 regular season, though. Middleton averaged 15.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.2 blocks per game during the 2022-23 regular season.
Middleton’s 2022-23 regular season paled in comparison to Butler’s, but Middleton was an invaluable piece of the 2021 Bucks team that went on to win the NBA title. He was undoubtedly the second-best player on the team during the 2021 postseason, behind only Giannis Antetokounmpo, who won the 2021 NBA Finals MVP award.
The 6-foot-7 wing averaged 23.6 points per game while shooting 43.8 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from behind the three-point arc across 23 appearances during the 2021 postseason.
Middleton arguably saved his best basketball of the 2021 postseason for the NBA Finals against Devin Booker, Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns. The three-time NBA All-Star didn’t just score the ball at a high level during the championship series — he stuffed the stat sheet.
Middleton averaged 24.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game during the 2021 NBA Finals, and the Bucks won the series in six games. After losing Games 1 and 2 of the championship series, the Bucks beat the Suns four games in a row.
Middleton is a bonafide star when he’s healthy, but it’s debatable whether he’s on the same level as Butler. After all, Butler was the best player on two Heat teams that made it to the NBA Finals, while Middleton was not the best player on the 2021 Bucks.
