Bucks trade Khris Middleton to Wizards for Kyle Kuzma

Will Middleton be waived? Would be a good addition on the team.

 

Kuz for @PackerNation

 

Lol.

 

True, but he's healthy and playing fine now.

 

I do not think they are winning anything with Kuzma or Middleton due to Celtics, Knicks and to a degree Cavs being too strong.

Also the Magic and Pacers pose a nice threat when fully healthy.
Ok, the Magic are in a shooting funk right now.

 

Middleton is 33 and I believe this is just a swap to gently ease him into senior home.......those few years that he is still being productive.

But I do feel they could have gotten someone with better Defense and shooting.

 

He has a player option for next year, so no.

 

Maybe, but at the end of the day I still think its poor return for Kuzma since they took more salary for no assets. Rox basically got more return for Jaden Springer and his 4M salary lol

 

Is Kuzma really only shooting 28% from 3 this year? That's way worse than even Westbrick. lol

 

yannis needs to demand a trade. even to the detroits would be better with amin thompson and fade4cade

 

Nice

Rocket River

 

Kuzma played 32 Games for Washington, so his W/L percentage with them isn't very good.

 

How is it with the Bucks?

Rocket River

 

Winds......Losses
..11.............7.......

But his Status (Position on Totem Pole) has changed with the trade.

When he was with Washington, he sort of got the role of Leader by default rather than actually being worthy of being designated the Leader.

My take is that Kuzma considered himself to be the Leader in Washington, so Brogdon, Smart and Poole were below him and he surely wasn't going to defer to any of the Washington Youngsters.

In Milwaukee, the Status - Pecking Order was already established with players such as Giannis and Lillard clearly above him while others such as Lopez and Portis have been with the team for a while.

Kuzma
Middleton

.............Shot Attempts Per 100 Possessions [2024-25 Season]
Kuzma - Washington............24.3
Kuzma - Milwaukee..............17.0

Middleton - Milwaukee..........19.0
Middleton - Washington........18.9

The FGA for Middleton stayed about the same while there was a notable reduction in FGA by Kuzma after they swapped teams.

That suggests that Kuzma only gets the ball when the Bucks want him to and/or he has fallen in line and reduced his FGA on his own initiative.


Team Defense Pre All-Star Break

Washington is at the bottom tied with New Orleans.

Team Defense Post All-Star Break

Washington is at #14.


My thoughts are that the Washington players are likely to listen to the coach and now give effort on Defense with Kuzma gone.

Kuzma's nature - inclination is to put up shots with Defense a secondary priority. Between age and injuries Middleton has declined from what he used to be, but I think that he tries to do what he can and the Washington players recognize the difference between him and Kuzma.

Lead, Follow or Get Out Of The Way:
The meaning is clear: either lead, follow the lead of others, or get out of way so others can execute on the plan.

Kuzma In Washington

1. Not a good Leader [Example] for the Washington Youth
2. Not going to defer and follow anybody on their roster
3. If he remained on the Washington Roster, it wasn't possible to get him out of the way.

The only way to get him out of the way was to trade him.

TLDR:
I think that the Subtraction of Kuzma has been the key event for Washington rather than the Addition of Middleton.

 

Great analysis

Rocket River