Should Spurs Pursue Khris Middleton in Buyout Market?

The Spurs didn't make any moves at the trade deadline, but they could be interested in adding former All-Star and NBA Champion Khris Middleton if he's bought out.

According to Brett Siegel at ClutchPoints, the Spurs and the Denver Nuggets are two teams interested in signing the 34-year-old swingman if he decides he wants out of Dallas. The Mavericks acquired Middleton and his expiring contract in the Anthony Davis trade.

"While the Mavs have signaled that they would like to keep Middleton for the remainder of the 2025-26 season, he and his representation have received interest from several teams in playoff position this season," Siegel wrote, citing league sources. "Among those with interest in Middleton, the Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs are said to be at the front of the line for the 34-year-old wing should he be bought out of his contract in Dallas."

If the decision is indeed Middleton's to make, he doesn't have much longer to deliberate. To maintain playoff eligibility for a new team, he'd need to be waived before midnight eastern time on February 28.

It's a tough financial decision for Middleton, who is in the last year of a contract that pays him $33.3 million. That works out to over $400,000 each game, meaning he'd be walking away from a guaranteed payday of nearly $10 million for the opportunity to chase a championship. That's a lot of dough, but it may be worth it for a guy who has earned around $300 million over the course of his career and has spent the last year with the listless Wizards and the rebuilding Mavs.

Middleton is 34, and made All-Star three times in Milwaukee as the Bucks fought for titles just a few years ago, winning in 2021 as he averaged 24 points per game in the Finals. He's appeared in 15 playoff series, averaging 20.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game while hitting 39% from deep in the postseason.

That experience level is something the Spurs probably find very attractive about the former Texas A&M star as San Antonio gears up for their first playoff run together. He was the second option on a championship team not too long ago, and still has some gas in the tank. He would join Harrison Barnes and Luke Kornet as the only players on San Antonio's roster with a ring, and he knows what it's like playing next to a gigantic MVP-level player.

This season Middleton is averaging 11 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 34% from deep.

The Spurs have a solid 10-man rotation, and they used the roster spot they opened up by waiving Jeremy Sochan to bring in veteran center Mason Plumlee for the rest of the season. Rookie Carter Bryant is playing well in limited minutes, but as the playoffs wear on San Antonio could probably use one more seasoned pro and shooter on the wing.

San Antonio would have to waive another player to create the roster spot, and Bismack Biyombo would be the likely casualty there. Plumlee's signing means that any minutes Biyombo would have seen as a 6-foot-8 emergency big man are likely to dry up completely. It wouldn't necessarily mean the end of Biyombo's career with the Spurs. When Gorgui Dieng reached the end of his playing days, the Spurs brought him over to the basketball operations side of things.

Middleton might just kick back, mentor the youth in Dallas for another two months and collect his checks before deciding on a new home in the offseason. But if he decides that life (and his NBA career) are too short and he wants to spend every moment that he can contributing to the pursuit of an NBA championship, the Spurs should absolutely do what they can to bring him to San Antonio.