Bucks could start season without veteran star

Bucks star forward Khris Middleton might need more time to be ready for the start of the 2024-25 season. 

According to insider Chris Haynes, Middleton has yet to be cleared for five-on-five scrimmages ahead of the Bucks' training camp that gets underway on Tuesday. A three-time All-Star, Middleton underwent surgeries on both ankles this offseason and has yet to recover from the procedures.

Haynes added that Middleton is "progressing nicely," but the team is taking a cautious approach and not likely to rush him back to on-court action. However, the three-time All-Star is expected to participate in most of the Bucks' training-camp activities, save for five-on-five basketball. 

Middleton missed a combined 88 games over the last two seasons with various injuries to his lower extremities. His injury woes began during the 2022 NBA playoffs when he suffered a sprained MCL in Game 2 of the Bucks' first-round series against the Bulls. Thereafter, he missed 49 regular-season games in the 2022-23 season and remained hobbled during Milwaukee's first-round upset loss to Miami. 

Midway through last season, Middleton suffered another ankle sprain that caused him to miss 27 games in the regular season. While he did return in the playoffs and even recorded a career-best 42 points against the Pacers, Middleton's bothersome ankles greatly affected his lateral movement on the defensive side of the ball. That would explain why he opted for surgeries on both ankles in the offseason.

Over his last two injury-plagued seasons, Middleton averaged 15.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists. In comparison, the sharpshooting wing registered three consecutive seasons of averaging 20-plus points between the 2019-20 and 2021-22 seasons when the Bucks were viewed as legitimate title contenders.

If Middleton fails to recapture that scoring form, the Bucks could struggle to compete with the East's powerhouse teams, such as the Celtics, 76ers and Knicks, despite boasting a superstar tandem in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard. The Bucks open the season with the eighth-shortest odds to win the championship, behind the Celtics, Thunder, Knicks, 76ers, Nuggets, Mavericks and Timberwolves.