Atlanta • Newly acquired Milwaukee Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma was one of the last players to walk out of McCamish Pavilion on Georgia Tech’s campus on Friday morning.
After the rain darkened the skies in the morning, the sun came out and brightened the Atlanta day as the Bucks finished up their morning shootaround. The 29-year-old climbing up the steep stairs from the court and emerging into the sunshine outside of McCamish to make his first public appearance as a member of the Bucks felt as metaphorical as it did literal.
One season after winning a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, Kuzma was sent to the Washington Wizards in a 2021 draft night deal. After getting a bigger role as one of the Wizards’ leading men — but ultimately piling up losses for four seasons in the nation’s capital — Kuzma is back in a situation where he will have a chance to compete at a high level alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard. On Friday, he said he is ecstatic for the opportunity.
“It’s been four years. It feels a long time,” said Kuzma, a former University of Utah standout. “But I was in a different space when I went to Washington. I already won a championship, so when I came to Washington it was like all right, let me find myself, let me find my game, let me see how good I can be, let me see what I can get better at. And I did that.
“And now I’m back in a situation to win, and that’s what it’s about. Obviously, I’ve been licking my chops for an opportunity to compete at a high level. I understand being in the situation I have been that you’re not guaranteed to win in this league and you gotta be grateful for these times, you gotta be grateful.”
Kuzma averaged 19.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 32.8 minutes per game across 232 games in the last three and a half seasons with the Wizards. This season, however, was statistically been Kuzma’s worst campaign in Washington.
As the Wizards looked to develop other young players and change Kuzma’s role, his numbers dipped. In 32 games this season, Kuzma has made a career-worst 42 percent of his shots and a career-worst 28.1 percent from behind the 3-point line, while seeing his scoring average dip from 22.2 points per game last season to 15.2 this season.
Los Angeles Lakers' Kyle Kuzma (0) is congratulated by teammates after hitting a game-winning 3-pointer against the Denver Nuggets during the second half of an NBA basketball game Monday, Aug. 10, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The Lakers won 124-121. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, Pool)
Going from that situation with the 9-41 Wizards to a Bucks team with high expectations and big postseason goals will be a welcome change for Kuzma.
“Just being able to play winning basketball at a high level with Hall of Famers, Hall of Famer coach, other champions on the roster,” Kuzma said when asked what excites him most about the opportunity in Milwaukee. “Being in that type of environment that I haven’t necessarily been in for the past couple of years, but I’m really, really itching to get back to.
“I think that, obviously, you’re going to play with Giannis and Dame, so definitely going to come with it.”
While Kuzma was brought to Milwaukee in exchange for Khris Middleton, one of the most storied players in Bucks franchise history, Kuzma made it clear there has been little discussion with Bucks coach Doc Rivers about filling Middleton’s role off the bench this season or filling Middleton’s role as a starter last season.
“We haven’t talked about nothing, no role, anything,” Kuzma said. “It really doesn’t matter to me. I know I’m going to be on the court, I know I’m going to play, I know I’m going to impact this team, and the vibes are high. It’s really just about being excited being here. So, we’ll get to that (starter vs. bench player conversation) eventually.”
It will be interesting to see how Rivers incorporates Kuzma with the Bucks. Aside from his final season in Los Angeles when it was a near 50-50 split between small forward and power forward, positional estimates from Cleaning the Glass show Kuzma playing power forward predominantly throughout his career. In seven of his eight seasons, Kuzma has spent at least 75 percent of his minutes at power forward.
That will be difficult in Milwaukee. While Antetokounmpo is one of the league’s “positionless” wonders, it is difficult to consider him anything other than a power forward. He has played that position almost exclusively during the last two seasons under Rivers. With his traditional position already taken by Antetokounmpo, Kuzma may need to shift to small forward alongside Antetokounmpo and center Brook Lopez.
“I mean, both, I’m a basketball player,” Kuzma said when asked if he saw himself as more of a three (small forward) or four (power forward) positionally. “I can play every position. It doesn’t really matter to me. I think there’s going to be pros to both lineups.
“If I’m playing the three, then good luck with Giannis and Brook at the rim. And if I’m playing the four and Giannis is playing the five, now we are much, much faster, and that poses a different threat that this team necessarily hasn’t had this year and it should help things out.”
Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune Utah Utes forward Kyle Kuzma (35) dunks the ball as Utah hosts Northwest Nazarene, NCAA basketball at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Saturday November 12, 2016.
In Milwaukee, Kuzma won’t only play a different position; he’ll also fill a different offensive role, playing off Antetokounmpo and Lillard as the Bucks’ third scorer. For his career, Kuzma is only a 33.4 percent 3-point shooter, which is not ideal considering the attention the league’s top scoring duo can draw for themselves and the open shots they regularly create for teammates. But when asked about that 3-point percentage, Kuzma told reporters he didn’t feel it accurately captured his ability.
“Well, I wouldn’t put too much stock into percentages with me,” Kuzma said. “I think that my whole career I’ve never been guarded like a 33 percent shooter ‘cause if I get hot, it might be a long night.
“So I think that teams have always kind of guarded me as if (I’m) very capable, and that’s all you really kind of need on the court. It’s the gravity. Are the defenses scared that you can score? I think that when you have more and more of those on the court, then your offense is going to be better. I think just for me the game is simplified — less is more. I’m able to catch-and-shoot a lot more, get wide open looks, which I necessarily haven’t had.”
No matter what Kuzma’s role ends up being, the eight-year NBA veteran made it clear he is excited to put trade talk behind him and get back to basketball, especially considering he is again in a position at a chance to make a deep postseason run as he did in 2020 with the Lakers.
“When I heard the news, I was super ecstatic to be here,” Kuzma said. “I wanted to be here just because I knew this was a place where to potentially compete for a championship and play just high-level winning basketball again. And that was the most important thing.”
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