Khris Middleton Slowly Settling Into Wizards' Wing Rotation

CJ McCollum's been the face of growing criticism to turn the page to the new era, with his sub-40% field goal percentage indicating that his shots would be better suited with a redirect to the next generation of Wizards guards. Khris Middleton's been largely lumped in with McCollum as a similarly-weathered veteran with his best scoring seasons behind him, but his quiet acclimation to more of a reserve rotational role within the Wizards' young wing core.

Middleton's Acclimation to a Fresh Rebuild

His strong, 23-point start to the season indicated that he'd resume his place towards the top of the Wizards' depth chart, where he'd helped the team play some strong ball following his midseason trade, and Washington's continued providing him with ample starting opportunities in each of his 11 appearances. But since notching 28 minutes in three of his first four outings, he's yet to log that many minutes in a contest since.

He's since escaped a brief shooting rut to fill a mid-20 point per game role, where he's quietly helped the Wizards' status as passable-shooting unit. They may not hoist many 3-pointers, but they're making 37.6% for the eighth-most in the league, and that's largely been due to Wizards wings like he, George, Corey Kispert and Cam Whitmore.

Wizards coaching has been under the gun to make room for more of their fringe-rotational pieces as the losing's spiraled past the point of concern, and that's where Middleton's acceptance of a more flexible position in Brian Keefe's system. Justin Champagnie has looked more and more worthy of regular impact minutes, while Will Riley's ability to turn it on in a brief G League stint is demonstrative of the staff's willingness to give him another test drive with the big-league team.

Middleton and McCollum, acquired as expiring contracts that the front-office can flip into tradable assets, are set to earn a combined $74 million this season, meaning that finding interest for them among the Wizards' peers will be tough if they can't prove themselves as productive contributors. But despite that hefty price tag and the growing burden to make good use of his money, Middleton hasn't been quite the developmental or possession-to-possession hindrance that he's been made out to be.