Bucks News: Damian Lillard Responds to Khris Middleton Coming Off Bench

The Milwaukee Bucks have been tinkering with their starting lineup all year. A lot of the reason for that has been because of injuries. They have had to figure out how to play around Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, and Khris Middleton missing games.

Antetokounmpo and Lillard missed a lot of games at the same time, which made things frustrating for the Bucks. Middleton has missed a lot of games, period. He has played in just 13 games so far this year after having surgery on both of his ankles in the offseason.

Middleton is averaging just 12.3 points per game, which is the second-lowest amount of his career. Quite frankly, he doesn't look like the same player he once was. That's not something that the Bucks can afford this season if they want to win an NBA title.

Milwaukee decided to make a giant move with their starting lineup. Doc Rivers decided to move Middleton to the bench permanently. They are replacing him with Taurean Prince, who they think can hold up better defensively. His lateral quickness is better than what Middleton's is right now.

This is certainly a big move to the core of the Bucks team that won an NBA title just a few years ago. Lillard was asked about the change and what it means for the team moving forward.

"I think it just makes us an even stronger team. Khris coming off of surgery and missing some time, we had to get settled a certain way," point guard Damian Lillard said.

It's clear that the team was tired of having to readjust to Middleton when he would finally get into the lineup. Making this move allows the starters to develop some cohesion for the rest of the season. Middleton wasn't exactly lighting teams up as a starter anyway.

This move also signals that the Bucks are definitely open to making a big move to help their starting lineup. They could be in the market for one of the wings who are on the trade market, namely Jerami Grant or Cameron Johnson. Those two players would help give them what Middleton does not.

How all-in the Bucks decide to go this season remains to be seen. They will be active around the trade deadline, and it's expected that they will make at least one move to improve the roster.

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