Bucks’ Khris Middleton feels ‘great’ after ankle surgeries, but health questions remain as camp opens

MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton told reporters during media day Monday that he feels “great” heading into training camp, but has not yet been cleared for five-on-five action after undergoing surgery on both of his ankles during the offseason. He is expected to be ready for the start of the season. 

“He’ll participate in camp,” Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said. “We won’t have him doing a lot of live action, coming off the surgery and all that, but all our skeleton work, all our transition work, our transition defense, our conditioning work, he’ll be on the floor with us.”

This was another rehab-filled Summer for Middleton, who had major ankle issues last season and was limited to 55 games. 

Middleton sprained his left ankle on Feb. 6 when he landed on Kevin Durant’s foot during a loss to the Phoenix Suns. “I can’t think of an ankle sprain I’ve had this bad like this,” he said at the time. He ended up missing nearly six weeks of action before returning to the court in late March. 

Then, in Game 2 of the team’s first-round playoff series against the Indiana Pacers, Middleton sprained his right ankle. Though he did not miss any time the rest of the way, and even put in one of the best postseason outings of his career in Game 3, the Bucks were eliminated in six games. 

Middleton confirmed on Monday that the procedures were directly related to the sprains he suffered during the season. “After I took some weeks off, I just realized they weren’t feeling the way I thought they should,” Middleton said. “Realized I needed the cleanup process just to get ready for this coming season.”

While this isn’t an ideal way for Middleton to begin his 13th season in the league, everyone was optimistic that he’ll be back to his best soon. 

“Khris is doing really well,” Bucks GM Jon Horst said. “It’s just a normal offseason clean-up procedure. He literally is on the court right now as we’re talking. He’ll be a very active participant in camp, so Khris is also healthy.”

Ever since he sprained his knee during the first round of the 2022 playoffs, Middleton has struggled to stay on the court. He’s played 88 regular-season games in the last two seasons and underwent surgery on his wrist, knee and ankles. He was on a minutes limit to begin last season and did not play in both games of back-to-backs. 

As for how the team plans to keep him healthy this time around, Rivers said the team hasn’t decided on a plan. Middleton, who said he feels he’s been “unlucky” in recent years, said he’ll listen to his body and the team’s medical staff in order to get to the playoffs as close to 100% as possible. 

“Knowing my limits, knowing what pain is, knowing what you can play through and when it’s not smart playing through,” Middleton said. “I’ve learned that a lot over the last couple years. And that’s not saying I played when I wasn’t supposed to be playing or I played when I shouldn’t be playing. It’s just experience, going through the years and talking to other people that’s been through similar situations. I’m always going to be learning something about myself and my body as I get older.”

Middleton and the Bucks are traveling to California for training camp, which will be held on UC-Irvine’s campus. Their first preseason game is scheduled for Oct. 6 against the Detroit Pistons.