Per ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Bucks will receive Kuzma, Patrick Baldwin Jr. and a second-round draft pick from the Wizards for Middleton, AJ Johnson and a pick swap.
Edit: Some more context
ESPN’s Bobby Marks added that Kuzma agreed to reduce a portion of his trade bonus to keep the Bucks under the second apron.
Kuzma contact also declines each year. Think this was a smart play since they now have more flexibility this year/next year being under the 2nd apron and don’t lose the draft pick that comes with being over so can potentially trade that. Key thing will be how Kuzma helps them in the playoffs, he did play a similar role on the Lakers championship team.
Late edit: The Bucks will also acquire center Jericho Sims from the New York Knicks as part of the deal, according to Charania. The Knicks will receive Delon Wright and cash.
I have no idea why Wiz would do this.
They have to get Kuzma and Poole out of there and start following the Pistons example. They have Coulibaly, Sarr and whoever they get this year. Get a couple of decent vets and let them teach the young guys how to play properly.
My guess is they’d rather pay Middleton more next year than have the extra 1 (maybe 2 can’t remember) years Kuzma has on his deal and the pick swap may be good depending on the year.
Not a huge win for them or anything but not really sure Kuzmas market either so may have been the best option.
Exactly. Kuzma is a nothingburger wearing a basketball jersey
He’s been pretty disinterested on the Wizards so I expect him to be more focused on defense to the point he won’t be a negative and his shooting %s to increase since he’s now a 3rd option and not a 1st.
Not saying he’s gonna be amazing but if he can play a role like he did for the Lakers it’s an upgrade from the current hobbled Middleton and the Bucks were able to get under the 2nd apron on top of it for effectively no draft capital.
True. Man, Middleton’s injuries depress me as much as Eric Gordon’s did. I don’t think we even saw the actual ceiling.