Bucks GM: Khris Middleton, Kyle Kuzma Trade Was 'the Hardest Transaction' I Made

Milwaukee Bucks general manager Jon Horst said trading Khris Middleton was the "hardest" transaction of his career.

Middleton was in the middle of his 12th season with the team when Horst agreed to a four-team trade that sent Middleton to the Washington Wizards.

The Bucks also sent out rookie AJ Johnson and brought back Kyle Kuzma, Jericho Sims, draft capital and salary flexibility as part of the deal.

“It has to be the hardest thing transactionally that I’ve ever done, from the human side of it, the roster side of it, the culture of the team, our community,” Horst said, per Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "I’m incredibly close with Khris personally, his family. I love them. I probably have more Middleton jerseys in my house than anything and will still have more Middleton jerseys in my house than anything."

Horst continued, per Owczarski:

"So not comfortable with it, but it’s still the awesome responsibility to try to take this franchise and maximize the window that we have now as best we can and what we think gives us the best chance to win, and figure out how to continue winning going forward. And there’s a very narrow set of opportunities that we felt that we could do that, and this was one of them.

"Looking at it, this isn’t a Khris or a Kyle comparison, although that’s the easy thing to do. It’s the team before the trade deadline and the team after the trade deadline, and to be determined with an open roster spot, that we felt like in totality we positioned ourselves to have a better run this year. In a really weird way – that doesn’t do anything to diminish the multi-time, three-time all-star, Olympian, NBA champion, pillar in the community, everything that Khris Middleton was for this franchise for over a decade, my entire, not my entire, but his entire time here together.

"So, not comfortable with it. Still never will be comfortable with it. But do believe that we did the right thing for the right reasons, and hopefully in the right way."

It was former general manager John Hammond who acquired Khris Middleton in a 2013 trade with the Detroit Pistons. Horst then took over for Hammond in 2017.

Middleton leaves Milwaukee second in franchise history only to Giannis Antetokounmpo in games played and minutes played, and third to Antetokounmpo and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in career points. He ranks first in franchise history in three-pointers and three-point attempts.

His clutch shooting helped lead the Bucks to victory over the Phoenix Suns in the 2021 NBA Finals.

Middleton has struggled with injury issues over the last few seasons, and his $31 million cap hit put the Bucks above the second luxury tax apron.

The Bucks will now look to make their next playoff run without Middleton, but with additional roster flexibility afforded by avoiding the harshest luxury tax penalties.