If you don't believe that Khris is worth the contract he signed this past offseason—or don't at least believe the $30m+ salary he's getting this year—is justified, then you might just not know basketball.
I don't need to rehash all the stats here that are thrown around on broadcasts and blogs (50/40/90, 20.7 PPG, etc.) so I'll do a few of the advanced (but imperfect, especially in the case of PER) stats:
22.2 PER (19th in the league)
.630 TS% (12th)
6.9 WS (13th)
.228 WS/48 (6th!)
5.0 Box +/- (12th, one above Embiid, the "best player in the world")
2.6 VORP (17th)
By many advanced metrics, Khris ranks as a top 20 player in the league this season. A huge step forward from last year, which many considered to be his finest season. To tell you the truth, I can barely recognize him as compared to last season. He's a vastly better scorer and shooter, and I think now I can confidently say he's a good enough second option to lead the Bucks on a Finals run, or to a ring. Something I would not have said before the season.
In recent weeks there has been a swell of comments from Bucks fans and pundits about his shot at making an All-NBA team. I haven't heard any of the national voices (Lowe is the main guy I read/listen to) making noise about him, but I'll be appalled if they aren't discussing Khris for a spot when they're getting their ballots together at the end of the year, based on how he's doing as of my writing. He's playing the best ball of his career right now, and if that continues he really has a fighting chance.
Unfortunately lot of this is going to come down to how Anthony Davis is classified in the voting. Davis insists he's a PF despite very convincing evidence that his team plays better when he's at the 5, and that C is probably the best role for him on any team in today's league. Hopefully, the NBA allows writers to vote for AD at the 5, as that will give Khris' chances (who I'm positive will be listed as a forward—he can surely play SG but hasn't the past couple years as compared to pre-Bud) a big boost.
If Davis is listed at C, here's how I think the teams will shake out at the forward and center positions, based on where things stand with about 70% of the season gone by:
Khris' season compares very favorably to Siakam's, but as the top option on the league's third best team by record, Siakam probably gets the nod for 2nd team over Khris and Tatum. Tatum has been pretty outstanding this year, and it basically comes down to him or Khris if AD is listed as a forward. I think Jimmy Butler finishes as the top vote-getter at F among the honorable mentions. The above might change in the final ~25 games—I think Jokic probably jumps up to second team over Embiid if the Nuggets maintain the 2 seed and Philly doesn't make it to the 3 seed—but I don't think Butler's season is going to surpass those of Khris or Tatum.
If AD is listed at forward—which I suspect the league will do—things get dicey:
Again, Siakam belongs on an All-NBA team this season. But who belongs more between Khris and Tatum? As it stands today, their per-36 averages and a lot of their advanced stats show a clear advantage in favor of Khris:
| Rk | Player | Season | Age | G | GS | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khris Middleton | 2019-20 | 28 | 50 | 47 | 1493 | 9.3 | 18.3 | .509 | 2.9 | 6.7 | .437 | 6.4 | 11.6 | .550 | 3.9 | 4.2 | .909 | 0.9 | 6.6 | 7.5 | 5.1 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 25.4 |
| 2 | Jayson Tatum | 2019-20 | 21 | 52 | 52 | 1779 | 8.6 | 19.4 | .445 | 2.8 | 7.3 | .386 | 5.8 | 12.1 | .481 | 4.0 | 4.9 | .822 | 1.1 | 6.3 | 7.3 | 3.1 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 24.1 |
| Rk | Player | Season | Age | G | MP | PER | TS% | 3PAr | FTr | ORB% | DRB% | TRB% | AST% | STL% | BLK% | TOV% | USG% | OWS | DWS | WS | WS/48 | OBPM | DBPM | BPM | VORP | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khris Middleton | 2019-20 | 28 | 50 | 1493 | 22.4 | .630 | .368 | .232 | 2.8 | 16.9 | 10.3 | 21.6 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 10.8 | 25.9 | 4.4 | 2.8 | 7.1 | .230 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 4.9 | 2.6 | ||
| 2 | Jayson Tatum | 2019-20 | 21 | 52 | 1779 | 20.0 | .559 | .376 | .253 | 3.3 | 18.5 | 11.0 | 13.8 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 9.6 | 28.2 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 5.4 | .146 | 3.0 | 0.4 | 3.5 | 2.4 |
He'd have my vote over Tatum, but I'm not Nick Friedell or some blowhard Boston Globe writer. Hell, some of those people will probably vote for Butler just because he's a name. And I don't think we can trust these writers to use per-36 stats and will just point to the per-game numbers, where Tatum has a scoring edge by 2.2 and a rebounding edge by .8 in 4.5 more minutes per game. This would be a travesty. But if the NBA is still allowing Gery Woelful to vote (which I think they did last year?) there are going to be some idiots who will go with Butler or Tatum over Khris because of per game stats/name recognition/playing in a big market or any combination of those three.
Should we not get our hopes up? Maybe. Does Khris deserve to be on the third team? Absolutely. I won't say it's his spot to lose, but if he doesn't keep this up then I don't think he makes it. For many reasons, not just an All-NBA nod, I hope he keeps this up. As of February 25, he should have a spot for sure.
