The Washington Wizards stand as the worst team in the NBA. At 4-22, they have the worst record in the NBA. Additionally, they rank last in ORTG and second-to-last in DRTG, only ahead of the Utah Jazz. The Wizards also have the worst net rating in the league (-14.3). Washington finished as the second-worst team in the NBA last season and has missed the playoffs every year since 2021. Naturally, many expect the Wizards to make a trade at some point this season to shake things up in Washington. There are a few intriguing candidates, but we now have some more insight about who the Wizards may be looking to move on from.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein (subscription required), the Wizards “are eager” to trade starting forward Kyle Kuzma. Stein mentioned that the Wizards nearly traded Kuzma last season to the Dallas Mavericks. Ultimately, Kuzma opted against the trade and stayed in Washington for the remainder of the season. Dallas, on the other hand, advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in over a decade before losing to the Boston Celtics in five games.
The rising belief leaguewide is that the Wizards are eager to find a trade partner for Kuzma at some point during the next six-plus weeks … and that Kuzma would want to depart this time with the 4-22 Wizards scarcely even trying to be competitive heading into the loaded 2025 NBA Draft. The 29-year-old, of course, possesses no formal mechanism in his contract to block trades, but the Wizards unexpectedly let Kuzma make the call a year ago. The Mavericks pivoted swiftly and completed trades for Washington’s Daniel Gafford and Charlotte’s P.J. Washington instead and wound up making a run to the NBA Finals for just the third time in franchise history.
Washington Wizards ‘Are Eager’ to Trade Kyle Kuzma
Kyle Kuzma’s Season So Far
Kuzma is now in his fourth season in Washington. The Wizards acquired the former Los Angeles Lakers champion in 2021 as part of a five-team trade. Kuzma took a statistical jump in Washington in each season of his tenure. This culminated in a career year for Kuzma last season, when he averaged 22.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.2 assists, Unfortunately for Kuzma, his 2024-25 season is not off to a hot start.
The 29-year-old has only appeared in 12 games so far as he recovers from a rib injury. In those games, he is averaging 15.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists. He is also shooting 42% from the field and 27.6% from the three-point line. It is a small sample size, but these numbers are the worst of Kuzma’s Wizards career up to this point.
Kuzma has reportedly been ramping up his participation in practice. As it stands, however, there is no concrete timetable for his in-game return.
The Last Word
Kuzma is in the second year of his four-year, $90 million contract. Given that he has not led Washington to many wins, trading him could make sense for both sides. It is not known how hot of a market Kuzma has, but Stein threw out one team that could pursue him once again–the Sacramento Kings.
Sacramento has also been mentioned as a team that could revisit past interest in Kuzma amid the Kings’ 5-10 slump, but it remains to be seen if the versatile 6-foot-9 forward indeed emerges as a true Kings target this winter. The Kings’ interest in Kuzma has been up-and-down in recent transaction cycles.
The trade deadline is a little less than two months away, and it seems that Kuzma will be a player to monitor until then.
The post Washington Wizards ‘Are Eager’ to Trade Former Champion appeared first on Last Word On Basketball.