I’ve often been on the side of “Kuzma is underrated.” While he’s been a fun punchline on the internet for his fashion and self-confidence, Kuzma became a really good role player, very quickly for the Los Angeles Lakers, who he helped toward a title in 2020. Then, he got moved to the Wizards in the Russell Westbrook trade, and he just kind of toiled there while still playing mostly good basketball on a horrendous team. I’ve been banging the drum of “Kuzma could really help a contender” for a couple years now. And then, the 2024-25 season happened.
This season, Kuzma has not been the guy many of us have been defending. He has shot horribly, right down to being a 60 percent free-throw shooter out of nowhere. His production is down across the board, but more importantly, he’s seemed to stop paying attention on defense. He was never good enough to fix a bad defense, but he would at least get his portion of the job done. He’s seemed largely disinterested in really doing most things he’s supposed to as the 8-41 Wizards have greatly improved their youth movement by tanking and developing the young players on the roster.
Even recently, Kuzma had enough and said he was done trying to fit in. He was going to demand the ball more and not do what the team was trying to do. Maybe that was a ploy to get traded. If so, it worked. Congratulations! If not, he probably figured it was time to worry about his own numbers if he was going to be on the worst team in the league. What Kuzma can potentially bring to the Bucks is what they’ve been missing without a consistent third option on the floor, and his impact could even go beyond just scoring.
Kuzma won’t replace the playmaking Middleton provided when the latter was healthy, but Kuzma can really score. He can get out in transition, he’s a great option cutting toward the basket, he’s tall and athletic for the three and he can knock down a jumper. You almost have to throw out his numbers from the past couple seasons and give him a clean slate to see if a real basketball environment will give his production a massive boost — or at least boost his efficiency.
There have been a couple seasons of Kuzma hitting 36 percent from 3-point range, which is about league average. The rest of the time, he’s been in the 33-34 percent range. I’d throw out the 28 percent he’s shooting this season. If Kuzma can stretch the floor at a league-average clip and be a threat when attacking the basket, he’s a great complement to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.
The key for Kuzma will come from the defensive end of the floor. We have seen him be a very good defender in the past. We have also seen him abandon that end of the floor recently. Kuzma has to dedicate himself to defense to make his impact felt and to gain the trust of Antetokounmpo and company. If he plays the way he did for the Lakers, this is a brilliant pickup. If he’s been stuck in the malaise too long, it’s going to be a rough gamble for Milwaukee.
Kuzma is signed through the 2026-27 season at a declining annual salary, so, financially, this is a very good pickup for the Bucks — as long as Kuzma ups his game.
