Khris Middleton
Khris Middleton of the Milwaukee Bucks during the game against the Washington Wizards on January 15, 2018 at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.

(Photo: Flickr/Keith Allison)

The Milwaukee Bucks seem willing to pay just to keep their team intact given their best season ever in a span of a couple of decades. ESPN'S Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Milwaukee Bucks are anticipated to cement a 5-years $178 million deal with Kris Middleton to keep him. The report also mentioned that the last year of the contract would include a player option.

Khris Middleton just came from a strong NBA season of which he averaged six rebounds, 18 points, and four assists. He was shooting below 38 percent at three points and was included in the NBA All-star game. However, CBS reported that while the NBA All-star is good, the deal that Milwaukee Bucks just entered into is the richest ever signed by a round two draft pick.

Many could criticize the Milwaukee Bucks' decision for keeping Middleton and dislike the deal. Giving the NBA player that much money seems unwise for some since the player could at times be streaky or could not be counted on when the team needed his scoring prowess the most. But for the Milwaukee Bucks, that is just a no brainer.

The current cap situation of the team will not even allow them to afford any player close to the level of Khris Middleton. While Middleton has his own flaws and lacks, he is also very versatile who can shoot 3s quite well, improvise his own shot, and can stand tough defensive match-ups. In addition, the Milwaukee Bucks are in their best NBA season since the period where they had Ray Allen and were just a couple of wins short from their first-ever appearance in the NBA finals since 1974.

Aside from this, letting go of their second best player in exchange for nothing is much worse than overpaying just to keep him in the team given how wide the race for the title it will be in the upcoming NBA season. Milwaukee Bucks have a better chance of contending once again with Kris Middleton on board. Brook Lopez is also coming back to Milwaukee on a $52 million, four-year deal that comes with no option years. The team also added Robin Lopez, their first free agent outside of the team.

Lopez is offered a contract that takes up the team's full Room Mid-Level Exception. His contract is just $4.8 million shy of Brook during the first season of a 2-year deal with a player option on the second year.