The Milwaukee Bucks made quite the move at the NBA’s trade deadline, getting involved in a multi-team deal that ended in Milwaukee landing small forward Kyle Kuzma, who had just proved himself as a scoring threat with the Washington Wizards the season before, averaging 22.2 points a game.
But then, in Game 1 of the first round against the Indiana Pacers, he was basically out there on the court getting his cardio in, recording no points, rebounds, assists, steals, or blocks in his 22 minutes of play, putting doubt into the former first round pick’s ability to contribute when it really matters.
And unfortunately for Milwaukee, trading Kuzma away isn’t going to be an easy task, as it will likely involve the team giving up their first-round pick in the 2031 draft, which would be the most valuable asset that the team possesses.
And how much the team is playing him, which is at least $20 million annually, they are paying star-level money for a player that has given bench-level production, as Franco Luna from Behind the Buck Pass put it.
For now, the best option for Milwaukee would likely be to hope that Kuzma sees a return to his prime form, and hope that his mediocre playoff performances were just a fluke in order to avoid any further disaster by trading away any future draft picks.
