Contracts can’t be signed until July 9, but ESPN’s Marc Stein is reporting that the Milwaukee Bucks and free agent guard Khris Middleton are close to a 5-year deal worth $70 million.
According to the report, the deal would include a player option in the fifth year that would allow Middleton to return to free agency.
Middleton was a second-round pick by the Detroit Pistons in 2012 and came to Milwaukee with Brandon Knight in the July 2013 trade that sent point guard Brandon Jennings to the Pistons.
The deal averages $14 million a year and makes him the highest-paid player on the Bucks team. It’s also the largest deal for a Bucks player since Michael Redd signed a $91 million deal in 2005.