Once free agency opens at 6 p.m. ET today, All-Star Khris Middleton plans to agree to a five-year, $178 million contract to return to the Milwaukee Bucks, league sources tell ESPN.
The deal includes a player option on the fifth year, league sources said.
Middleton has developed into the co-star to MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo on the Bucks’ championship-contender team, and his commitment on Sunday re-establishes Milwaukee as an Eastern Conference favorite.
Middleton declined his $13 million player option to become an unrestricted free agent.
He was the Bucks’ top priority in a free-agent class that includes Malcolm Brogdon and Brook Lopez. Lopez plans to re-sign in Milwaukee on a four-year, $52 million contract, sources said earlier Sunday.
Middleton, 27, emerged as an All-Star for Milwaukee, which had the best record in the NBA and reached the Eastern Conference finals. Middleton averaged 18.3 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists last season. He’s a career 39% 3-point shooter, a self-made player who emerged from being a second-round pick to the Detroit Pistons out of Texas A&M into one of the NBA’s elite wing players.
NBA free-agent contracts can’t be officially signed until July 6.