After 12 years with Khris Middleton at the Milwaukee Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo is moving on

Before emerging as a late scratch from the game between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday, Giannis Antetokounmpo opened up about the trade involving longtime teammate Khris Middleton.

“I’ve played with Khris for 12 years. I spent incredible moments with him. At the end of the day, things like this, from what they’ve told us, you don’t know if it’s going to go through, so at the end of the day, until it’s official, Khris is like still our teammate. But if the trade goes through, obviously I’m going to miss Khris,” he mentioned during the morning shootaround in Charlotte.

“It’s a little bit bigger than business, it’s family,” he continued referring to the nature of the league and teams trading players, “With a guy that I’ve won a championship with – it’s not only that I’ve won, I’ve lost a lot of times with him. I’ve been in a dark place a lot of times with him. I’ve been in the bus going to a lot of pressure situations with him. It’s almost like I’ve been to war with him.”

Lessort among additions to trade

As part of the trade sending Middleton to the Washington Wizards and Kyle Kuzma to the Bucks, the New York Knicks are packing Jericho Sims to the Bucks for Delon Wright and cash considerations, according to ESPN senior NBA insider Shams Charania.

In addition, the draft rights of Mathias Lessort, currently on the injury list of the defending Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion Panathinaikos Aktor, are moved from the Knicks to the Bucks in exchange for those of fellow French player Hugo Besson, currently a member of Basketball Champions League outfit Manisa, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post.