It makes sense that the Milwaukee Bucks thought some changes were in order at the trade deadline. However, trading Khris Middleton for Kyle Kuzma might be a mistake. The Bucks have gone 13-11 since the trade.
Middleton and Kuzma weren’t the only ones involved in the deal. Rookie AJ Johnson was too, and he’s been looking better with the Wizards than with the Bucks. So much so that some data indicates he’s more impactful than Kuzma. Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey revealed a statistic that compared Kuzma unfavorably to Johnson.
“Kyle Kuzma has fewer wins over replacement player with the Bucks than AJ Johnson has with the Wizards,” Bailey wrote.
If the Bucks’ record since the trade deadline wasn’t bad enough, this does not make the Kuzma trade look good. The former NBA champion has proven he can score, but his effectiveness as a player has been questioned in the past because he hasn’t played for many winning teams.
Johnson helping the Wizards more than Kuzma has for the Bucks only makes that notion stand out even worse. In their defense, Milwaukee is not at the stage right now to develop young players like Johnson. He fits better with Washington’s youth than on a veteran team like the Bucks. However, Milwaukee needs rotation players, and Johnson could have helped there.
Since arriving in Washington, he’s averaging 8.1 points, 3.1 assists, and 2.4 rebounds. Those aren’t great numbers, but they are good enough that Milwaukee could have used that in their hopes of winning another title.
Milwaukee had the right intentions at the deadline when they wanted to shake things up a bit. Unless something changes in the playoffs, trading for Kuzma was not the right way to go about that.
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