Long before Khris Middleton was a 12-year, 25,000-plus minute NBA veteran, an elite two-way player on offense and defense, the Milwaukee Bucks record-holder in the three-pointers and now, thanks to 26 points in the win at Detroit on Monday night, a newly minted top three all-time franchise scorer... Long before he was a cornerstone of the 2021 NBA championship team, Middleton was, for lack of a better word, a sleeper.

A so-called "throw in" for a trade with Detroit in 2013. A second-round draft pick. A Texas A&M product who chose the school partly because he wasn't a highly sought – or overhyped – teenage phenom. He didn't play a full varsity season in high school until his junior year.

Long before he was the best complementary Bucks teammate to Giannis Antetokounmpo with his need-no-attention personality, before he was a bench confidante, a happy-behind-the-scenes contributor, a small forward with the gorgeous form, before coach Adrian Griffin noted that Middleton is the one "who calms us", Khris Middleton was...

"A late bloomer?” Middleton said, pausing for a moment in the hallway outside the practice court.

“I think that's fair. I've been a late bloomer my whole career. High school, to college. To the pros.”

In case we forgot, Middleton drew up the blueprint for sleepers and late bloomers.

Porter-Gaud High School, Charleston, S.C.

“I definitely didn't fit the mold of being a varsity player throughout,” Middleton said. “That was kind of the standard for a lot of phenoms – once they hit high school, they played varsity their whole high school career.”

Middleton played on the junior varsity team as a freshman. He then had his sophomore year interrupted.

“I ran into some trouble,” Middleton said. “I was at a private school and I had a D in geometry. Learned the hard way that school had to be No. 1.”

Middleton burst onto the scene as a high school junior, averaging 21 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, and was named state player of the year. He was really good the summer of 2008 too, at the Adidas Take Five tournament. He was extremely consistent with his performance, according to one report: "Middleton is a thin, wiry athlete who uses his explosiveness to enhance his game. He is a long-range shooter with NBA 3-point range.”

He repeated as player of the year as a senior, scoring 22.4 points and grabbing 8.6 rebounds per game in leading Porter-Gaud to the state title game.

But Middleton chose his college early, hinting that he didn't want to see if a bidding war for his talents would ever emerge.

"I didn't really get recruited that strongly in high school,” Middleton said. “I committed early, so I didn't wait to my senior year to see if anybody was going to come."

Texas A&M

Middleton averaged 7.2 points as a freshman and then doubled it to 14.4 as a sophomore, when an injury to a teammate increased his opportunity for playing time.

"My freshman, even sophomore year in college, I was kind of ... I wouldn't say project. It was more of, ‘he's just not ready yet,’" Middleton said. “When I was able to take off, I could play, gain experience, gain confidence."

2012 NBA draft

After completing his junior year, Middleton was taken by Detroit in the second round of the NBA draft, 39^th overall. The NBA has two rounds, 30 spots each. It was the Anthony Davis draft (No. 1 pick), the same draft that had Damian Lillard (No. 6). Second-rounders always have an uphill climb. It was a heck of a draft though.

John Henson, Jae Crowder and Draymond Green are other notables from that draft, and they all went before Middleton. Why? Maybe a knee injury that forced him to miss 12 games of his junior season at Texas A&M.

Detroit was not a lost year

In Middleton’s rookie year in Detroit, 2012-13, he averaged 6 points in an average of 17 minutes per game.

"But they knew I had potential; I knew I had potential. I just wasn't ready to play yet,” Middleton said.

And yet, what Middleton got out of that one year in Detroit was so valuable.

"Just seeing the bottom of the bottom," Middleton said, almost sheepishly, as if not wanting to kick the Pistons when they’re down. But he is just stating the facts. Detroit was 29-53 that year.

“But then, also, I was at the top because my dream was always to be in the NBA,” he added.

The duality of his life then gave him both perspective and even more motivation.

“To finally reach my dream and say ‘I'm in the NBA’, but also realize like (expletive), ‘I'm at the bottom.’ I have to work and climb my way up to prove that I belong here. And to also stay here,” Middleton said.

Veterans, like Corey Maggette, in his last year in the NBA, and Tayshaun Prince, were special mentors.

“They knew my time just wasn't there yet, but it was coming,” Middleton said. “They always encouraged me, pushed me to stay ready. That's something I always appreciated from them – they were always on me to get my extra work and be early. Stay afterward. Be professional, no matter how things are going.”

Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Mad Ants

How many all-stars played for a time in the D-League?

Middleton was the first.

Middleton played just a weekend in December in Indiana of his rookie season, after only playing in three games with Detroit. He needed minutes. He went through everything that rookie year.

“Detroit, I realized how life can be,” Middleton said. “You're not playing, you're questioning if you're going to be there the next day, if you're going to be in the league the next year.

"That stuff is real.

“I mean, I got traded right after my first year. That woke me up a lot about how quickly things can change. I had teammates that weren’t in the league anymore. Or teammates who played and didn't get a second contract.”

Pistons trade Middleton to Bucks

The Bucks and Pistons made a pretty big deal when Milwaukee sent Brandon Jennings to Detroit for three players. Middleton was one of them, coming to Milwaukee the same week the Bucks signed 18-year-old Giannis Antetokounmpo to his contract.

This headline and opinion blog kind of perfectly summed up some fan sentiment then:

Brandon Knight got shipped to Milwaukee for Brandon Jennings. Believe it or not, there were players not named Brandon involved in this trade. The deal also included household names such as Viachelsav Kravstov and Khris Middleton. Oh, they're not?

A decade later, a fan blogger in Michigan ranked it one of the worst trades in Pistons history.

Bucks debut

When Middleton got to Milwaukee, it was still brutal. The Bucks would have an even worse record – just 15 wins.

But in 30 minutes a game, Middleton averaged 12.1 points. He would play in all 82 games that year – something that would only happen one other time in his career.

“I was able to play, get a year under my belt, in a full 82-game season with meaningful minutes throughout the season,” Middleton said. “And then I was able to grow into my own.

“So I definitely think I was more of a late bloomer.

“I got to fly under the radar, which I love to do. I liked it because it let me focus on me, on what I need to do as a player, as a person, to stay hungry.

"I do have my days where I don't feel like doing the work. But there's something I can do to prepare me for the next day. To keep me going. Someone is out there doing it, trying to take my spot. I have to fight everyone off to keep mine."

The Middleton résumé

Middleton, now 32, stands as the Bucks' all-time leader in three-point shots made.

And now he is second only to Antetokounmpo and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the all-time Bucks scoring list with 12,012 points – and counting.

With a work ethic legendary among his teammates, and with crediting a long list of coaches who helped him, Middleton is a self-made NBA success story who had to work his way up, everywhere he was.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Before Khris Middleton was a Bucks record-holder he was a late bloomer