Khris Middleton sees light where for weeks there was mostly darkness, so 2017 already is looking brighter for the Milwaukee Bucks and their sidelined young shooter.

“It’s possible. That’s if everything goes right, with no setbacks and a good, long stretch of practices. Still a long way to go but I’m working towards it,” Middleton said Saturday night, a couple hours shy of a new and presumably better year.

The year just completed, 2016, had been rough. The Bucks went 20-28 after Jan. 1 in what was left of their 2015-16 season to backslide out of Eastern Conference playoff contention, a fall from .500 in 2014-15. Then Middleton ruptured his left hamstring so severely, he underwent surgery that, per initial projections, would cost him all of 2016-17 or nearly so.

It was a Wile E. Coyote step backwards off a cliff for Middleton and a team desperate for his 3-point shooting prowess (.400 career accuracy).

Shooting guard Khris Middleton is hoping to return to the Bucks' lineup after the All-Star break.

But basketball is looking brighter now because Middleton is on his way back. Sooner, possibly, than many may realize. He recently added running to his workouts and although he’s not had contact work yet, he has been doing strength training and post-surgery rehab work all along. He’s also staying involved otherwise during practices, in film sessions and accompanying the Bucks on the road.

Middleton’s timetable for his penciled-in return? Sometimes after the All-Star break. Considering Milwaukee’s ambition of a return to the postseason, that could leave two months or more on the Bucks’ schedule for Middleton to have an impact. Few teams can look forward to the arrival of cavalry that would fit so well, Middleton’s outside game opening up even more space for Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jabari Parker and the rest.

“We definitely have a secret weapon,” Antetokounmpo said.

That’s the short-term future. The long-term future might be equally bright for Milwaukee, if you look at the conference soberly. No East team has reached the NBA Finals without LeBron James on its roster since the 2010 Boston Celtics. With James and his Cleveland Cavaliers squad considered heavy favorites to go back this spring, and factoring in both James’ career trajectory and the Cavs’ roster demographics, it’s possible the trend may continue for some time.

But at some point, the LeBron Era in the East will wane. It might be two, three or even five seasons from now. Five seasons from now, James will turn 37, Kevin Love will be 33, Kyrie Irving will be a spritely 30 and durable Tristan Thompson will be 31. The rest of the roster will have to have been replenished rather remarkably.

This is a little like the unfortunates -- Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley and many other East stars past -- whose NBA primes happened to coincide with Michael Jordan’s and Scottie Pippen’s. Look around now and try to project other East teams four or five years down the road. What do you see?

You see the New York Knicks’ leading man, Carmelo Anthony, aging in lockstep with James and only Kristaps Porzingis as a young, solid bet. The Toronto Raptors’ two best players, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, will be 35 and 32 by the 2022 playoffs. The Boston Celtics’ roster will have ripened to the far side of 30, more or less, with Al Horford turned 35.

The Charlotte Hornets are built for a more imminent shot, within the next few years, and the Washington Wizards’ timeline is tighter than that. The Indiana Pacers are a mixed bag based on Myles Turner’s youth but Paul George’s uncertainty. Who’s to say which way the Atlanta Hawks are trending, which at least puts them in a better spot going forward then the Chicago Bulls.

The Orlando Magic may never get traction. Detroit’s players might put coach Stan Van Gundy in traction before the Pistons max out their potential. The Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers have laid their foundations, but both are going to do a whole lot of learning in the next few seasons.

That leaves Milwaukee. Out in front of the rebuilders, not so far along that they’ll be nipping at James’ heels on the back nine. From Antetokounmpo (22) and Parker (21) to Middleton (25), John Henson (26), Greg Monroe (26) and rookie guard Malcolm Brogdon (24), many of the Bucks’ key players are under 26. They’re learning as a group now, with a sweet spot anywhere from two to five, perhaps six, years out.

One could almost feel the growing pains Saturday in Chicago, when Milwaukee closed the calendar year with a 116-96 spanking of the Bulls. With both teams coming off dismal performances on the front end of back-to-backs, it was Milwaukee that roared off in the second half at United Center.