Bucks acquire Kyle Kuzma from Wizards in four-player swap

Bucks acquire Kyle Kuzma from Wizards in four-player swap

The Milwaukee Bucks have acquired forward Kyle Kuzma from the Washington Wizards in a four-player swap involving three-time All-Star Khris Middleton, ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania first reported Wednesday.

The full terms of the trade is that Kuzma, Patrick Baldwin Jr. and second-round pick compensation is heading to Milwaukee in exchange for Middleton, AJ Johnson and a pick swap.

It was reported Tuesday by Josh Robbins and David Aldridge of The Athletic that the two sides were exploring a trade between Milwaukee and Washington involving both Kuzma and Middleton.

While he is on a team-friendly contract, Kuzma’s had a very underwhelming season in Washington. Through 32 games, he’s averaging 15.2 points–after averaging 21.7 points over his previous two seasons–plus 5.8 rebounds on 42.0 percent shooting and 28.1 percent from 3-point range.

Kuzma’s proven that he can impact winning on championship teams (2019-20 Lakers), and humans are naturally a byproduct of their environment. Kuzma was a detriment on the worst team in the NBA, though perhaps there’s room for growth with a level of buy-in surrounded by Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.

Middleton, 33, has only played in 23 games this season after coming off offseason surgeries on both of his ankles. He’s averaging 12.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists on 51.2 percent shooting, including 40.7 percent from deep and 84.8 percent from the free-throw line.

As a result of this deal, the Bucks ducked under the second apron. Thus, the Bucks can now aggregate salaries–such as Brook Lopez‘s $23 million, Bobby Portis‘ $19.4 million, Pat Connaughton‘s $9.4 million and more–in a bigger deal, if required. That’s a win, if anything.

Though I am very intrigued by Washington acquiring rookie guard AJ Johnson, who’s very raw, but definitely has potential that the Wizards’ developmental staff can tap into behind Bub Carrington. It may take him a little while to figure everything out as he continues to get stronger, but this isn’t a bad spot for him to potentially get some run.

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