The trade deadline is 3 days away, two blockbusters have gone down, and the Milwaukee Bucks remain inert in the market. Although Feb. 6 is approaching, there is still ample time to make a move if they want to. One player they are interested in is Wizards’ forward Kyle Kuzma, per Bleacher Report on information from insider Jake Tischer.
Should the Bucks make this move, or is disrupting the current unit not worth the upgrade? Is the move an upgrade at all?
Kyle Kuzma Is a Buy-Low Choice That Could Improve the Milwaukee Bucks This Year and Next
Listed at 6’9, Kuzma can play power forward when needed, is relatively young (29), and owns a reasonable contract. He makes $23.5 million in 2024-25 and less than that in the two years following.
Because his salary is where it is, the Bucks would not need to trouble themselves dumping Pat Connaughton’s money beforehand to sneak beneath the second apron. Instead, they could simply move Khris Middleton ($31.6M) in a one for exchange. In a Brook Lopez trade ($23M), they could dump a much smaller salary than Connaughton’s to make up the $0.5M difference, giving them more options.
To bring back salaries roughly equivalent to Middleton’s, Milwaukee could take a flyer on someone like injured forward Saddiq Bey. Even if he remains out through this season, his team-friendly contract (3 yrs, $19M total) means that investing in his return for 2025-26 isn’t the worst idea in the world.
Given the contract expiration dates for Lopez (after this season) and Middleton (after next) compared to Kuzma’s (after 2026-27), Washington would also unburden their books sooner by trading for either of them.
While the Bucks do not have a glittering trove of draft capital, they should have enough to easily acquire Kuzma, who would help Milwaukee with his scoring, size and durability but is not a top-of-the-line talent. He is also having a down year, putting up 15.0 PTS and 5.8 RPG after averaging over 21 PPG and near 7 RPG across 2022-23 and ’23-24 . His assist rate has been higher each of the three prior campaigns, and his 42.2 FG% is a career low.
For interested teams, Kuzma has reached a buy-low point on a 7-41 team tanking hard for the number one draft pick.
Is Kuzma an Upgrade over Middleton?
For the Bucks, availability from their third option would indeed be the best ability. Earlier this season, Middleton was relegated to the bench for injury management concerns. Over the past two and half seasons, he has amassed 110 games, Kuzma 165. Now in his 8th year, he has never played fewer than 60.
Middleton has averaged 23.2 minutes per game this year, Kuzma 27.6 MPG. In each of the previous three seasons, he played 32.6 MPG or more.
The falloff in his 2024-25 numbers can be partly attributed to reduced playing time. The flip side, of course, is that poor performance may be damping his minutes–not just his FG%, but his 3PT% (28.6) and free throw rate (58.9%) are well below his career averages (33.5, 72.4).
It is also true that Washington has no interest in winning games or playing their best lineups. Kuzma’s 15 points per night is second on the team, yet 19-year-old Bub Carrington is outpacing him in court time. Only two Wizards, Jordan Poole and Bilal Coulibaly, average 30 MPG.
On a good team, where defenses devote resources to guarding Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kuzma should benefit from his best looks in years, spiking his efficiency stats. Based on how the Bucks want to use Middleton, who played 27 MPG last year and 32.4 in 2021-22 (his last season pre-injury), Kuzma would see no fewer than his Wizards minutes in Milwaukee.
The Bucks Need a More Reliable Third Scorer and They Need Size–Kuzma Offers Both
Of the two players, Middleton is actually having a much better season shooting, averaging 12.6 PTS on a line of 51.2/40.7/84.5. Simply comparing their shooting splits, considering a trade seems absurd. Although it would necessitate finding another center, trading Lopez is also an option if the Bucks would rather keep Khash Money.
If they did make a move, they wouldn’t be doing it for the version of Kuzma this season in Washington.
Rather, they would do it to acquire a player who provides badly needed size, a much better recent track record, and the ability to produce at a volume Middleton simply hasn’t, even though he has now scored at least 20 in 3 of 5 games (scoreless in the other two). Even in a down year, Kuzma has equaled or surpassed Middleton’s season-high 22 nine times, including his 31-point performance in Saturday’s win in Minnesota that snapped a 15-game losing streak.
Milwaukee anticipates that Khris will progress with the season, a reasonable expectation, but his ceiling at this point is uncertain and season is over halfway through. Can he get back to 15 PPG, like last year? He is also 33 years old. Lopez is 36.
Kuzma is 29, a cheap option this year–Middleton/Lopez and a 2031 second rounder?–who is due for positive regression and offers more to the team long-term. Do it, Jon Horst. At least pick up the phone.
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