Information cutoff: 2026-07-18. Projection is the encyclopedia model, not copied consensus.
Role and baseline
- 2025-26: 63 games, 22.8 MPG overall; 34 Washington games at 24.3 MPG. The total-season line was 10.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists on .420 FG and .875 FT.
- Transaction: returned July 8 in a six-team sign-and-trade on a reported three-year, $17.6 million contract.
- 2026-27 base role: managed backup power forward/secondary creator; 8 base minutes. His 35-year-old body and the development priority make a larger assumption too aggressive.
| GP | MPG | 3PM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | FG% | FT% | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | 8 | 0.3 | 3.5 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.1 | .440 | .870 | 0.5 |
Correction 2026-07-18: base minutes trimmed from 12 to 8 and the line rescaled. Four of those minutes went to Champagnie, who public rotation projections name as a bench regular and who was the more durable and more efficient forward last season; a 35-year-old on a reserve deal is the likelier load-management case for the minutes Washington needs to free.
Fantasy dossier
- 9-cat: deep streamer only. FT% and low turnovers are still useful, but 8 minutes cannot support standard-league volume.
- Points: injury streamer when the team needs veteran shot creation.
- Dynasty: no meaningful premium; age and recurring maintenance outweigh the contract length.
- Trade sensitivity: a move to a thinner contender rotation could raise his immediate minutes, while a Washington stay preserves mentoring value more than fantasy value.
Floor, median and ceiling
- Floor: frequent rest, single-digit minutes or a non-rotation role.
- Median: 8-minute connector outside the top 200.
- Ceiling: 24 healthy minutes during injuries and a temporary top-140 run.
Evidence trail
NBA career statistics · official Wizards trade report · CBS six-team trade/cap report · Wizards 2025-26 notes
Career record
Pre-NBA: Texas A&M, three seasons: 7.2 PPG as a freshman, 14.3 PTS / 5.2 REB on .450 as a sophomore (second-team All-Big 12), then a knee-limited junior year (20 GP, 13.2 PPG). Draft: 2012, Round 2, Pick 39, Detroit Pistons.
| Season | Age | Team | GP | MPG | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PM | FG% | FT% | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-13 | 21 | DET | 27 | 17.6 | 6.1 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.5 | .440 | .844 | 0.4 |
| 2013-14 | 22 | MIL | 82 | 30.0 | 12.1 | 3.8 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 1.5 | .440 | .861 | 1.5 |
| 2014-15 | 23 | MIL | 79 | 30.1 | 13.4 | 4.4 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 1.4 | .467 | .859 | 1.4 |
| 2015-16 | 24 | MIL | 79 | 36.1 | 18.2 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 1.8 | .444 | .888 | 2.3 |
| 2016-17 | 25 | MIL | 29 | 30.7 | 14.7 | 4.2 | 3.4 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 1.6 | .450 | .880 | 2.2 |
| 2017-18 | 26 | MIL | 82 | 36.4 | 20.1 | 5.2 | 4.0 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 1.8 | .466 | .884 | 2.3 |
| 2018-19 | 27 | MIL | 77 | 31.1 | 18.3 | 6.0 | 4.3 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 2.3 | .441 | .837 | 2.3 |
| 2019-20 | 28 | MIL | 62 | 29.9 | 20.9 | 6.2 | 4.3 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 2.4 | .497 | .916 | 2.2 |
| 2020-21 | 29 | MIL | 68 | 33.4 | 20.4 | 6.0 | 5.4 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 2.2 | .476 | .898 | 2.6 |
| 2021-22 | 30 | MIL | 66 | 32.4 | 20.1 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 2.5 | .443 | .890 | 2.9 |
| 2022-23 | 31 | MIL | 33 | 24.3 | 15.1 | 4.2 | 4.9 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.5 | .436 | .902 | 2.2 |
| 2023-24 | 32 | MIL | 55 | 27.0 | 15.1 | 4.7 | 5.3 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 1.7 | .493 | .833 | 2.3 |
| 2024-25 | 33 | MIL | 23 | 23.2 | 12.6 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.5 | .512 | .848 | 1.6 |
| 2024-25 | 33 | WAS | 14 | 22.1 | 10.7 | 3.7 | 3.4 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.9 | .413 | .868 | 1.4 |
| 2025-26 | 34 | WAS | 29 | 21.1 | 10.0 | 3.3 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.2 | .404 | .910 | 1.8 |
| 2025-26 | 34 | DAL | 34 | 24.3 | 10.3 | 3.9 | 3.3 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.0 | .433 | .841 | 1.7 |
| Career | — | — | 839 | 30.1 | 16.1 | 4.7 | 3.9 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 1.8 | .458 | .878 | 2.1 |
Three-time All-Star (2019, 2020, 2022), 2021 NBA champion, Tokyo Olympic gold medalist.
Durability: The defining risk for a decade: 2016 hamstring surgery cost him the first 50 games of 2016-17 (29 GP); offseason wrist surgery plus knee soreness cut 2022-23 to 33 games; recurring lower-body maintenance held him to 37 games in 2024-25. Even his last full-strength seasons (2019-22) ran 62-68 games with managed minutes. The 63 games of 2025-26 were his most since 2021-22, but at 21-24 minutes a night.
Trajectory: The table is a complete star arc: second-round pick, seven seasons as a 18-21-point three-level scorer and secondary creator, then a post-2022 body-driven decline into a 10-point connector on falling FG%. The .875 FT and low turnovers survived the decline; the burst did not. In 2026-27 he competes only for backup-forward organizer minutes in a development-first Washington rotation at age 35. He becomes fantasy-relevant solely as a short-window streamer when injuries hand him 20-plus minutes of creation — the 24.3-MPG Dallas stretch last season shows that version still produces a usable points-league line, and nothing more.
Career sources: ESPN career stats, Wikipedia, NBA.com career statistics.
Open questions
- Does Middleton remain on the roster through opening night and the trade deadline?
- Will Washington use him as the second-unit organizer or prioritize Riley/Johnson reps?
- How many back-to-backs does he sit?