Bradley Beal: Khris Middleton Was Shopped by Bucks in 2023 Trade Talks with Wizards

Before Bradley Beal was traded to the Phoenix Suns, he was apparently drawing interest from the Milwaukee Bucks.

Appearing on the Run Your Race podcast, Beal revealed the Bucks were shopping Khris Middleton in their attempts to acquire the three-time All-Star from the Washington Wizards.

The Bucks reached a pivot point in the summer of 2023. They were coming off a 58-win regular season, but lost in the first round of the playoffs as the No. 1 seed to the Miami Heat.

Beal was finally put on the trade block by the Wizards at that point after five consecutive losing seasons, with Milwaukee cited as a potential suitor.

The Athletic's Eric Nehm noted at the time that the Bucks trading for Beal would be difficult to pull off because of his contract and the way Milwaukee's roster was constructed.

Middleton's situation was complicated at the time because he had a $40.4 million player option that didn't seem unreasonable for him to opt in to because of his age—he turned 32 in August 2023—and played just 33 games during the 2022-23 season due to wrist and knee injuries.

Instead, Middleton wound up opting out and signed a three-year, $102 million extension with the Bucks. Nehm wrote he still could have been traded "as long as the Bucks and Wizards fulfilled all of the salary cap requirements of the current CBA."

The deal that sent Beal to the Phoenix Suns in a three-team deal involving the Indiana Pacers came together on June 24, six days before Middleton agreed to his extension with Milwaukee.

Milwaukee was able to get the offensive upgrade in the backcourt it had been seeking by acquiring Damian Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers on three months later in a three-team trade that the Suns got involved in. The Bucks wound up moving Jrue Holiday, Grayson Allen, a 2029 first-round draft pick and two future first-round pick swaps in the deal.

Beal's first season with the Suns was a mixed bag due in part to injuries. He did average 18.2 points per game on a career-high 51.3 shooting percentage, but was only able to appear in 53 games.

Middleton also dealt with injury issues that limited him to 55 games for the Bucks. Both Milwaukee and Phoenix were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.