New Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma seemed to briefly lose track of which team he was playing for as he returned to Washington Friday night, according to Noah Trister of The Associated Press. Kuzma, who spent three and a half seasons with the Wizards before being traded at the deadline, congratulated one of his former teammates after a good defensive play.
“One time in the first quarter, it might have been Alex (Sarr), he might have blocked a shot. Bilal (Coulibaly) came over to dap him up,” Kuzma said. “Then I dapped up Bilal, just by instinct. It was weird.”
Any confusion from Kuzma was short-lived as he scored 19 points in Milwaukee’s 104-101 victory. His addition becomes even more important to the Bucks with Giannis Antetokounmpo playing limited minutes while recovering from a calf strain and Bobby Portis suspended for 25 games due to a violation of the NBA’s drug policy.
Kuzma said he enjoyed playing in Washington, calling it “a time of growth,” but he didn’t expect the rebuilding Wizards to keep him past the trade deadline.
“I think the writing was on the wall in a sense here. Not saying that was a good or a bad thing. I think everything in life really has an expiration date,” Kuzma said. “It was my time to go, beneficial to all parties involved.”
There’s more from Washington:
- Khris Middleton narrowly missed out on a storybook ending against his former team when his last-second shot to force overtime bounced off the rim, writes Varun Shankar of The Washington Post. Coach Brian Keefe ran much of his late-game offense through the veteran forward, saying, “He’s a closer, has been for a very long time in this league. And we are going to take advantage of having him on our roster.”
- Marcus Smart played 17 minutes off the bench Friday in his first game with the Wizards, per Brian Robb of MassLive. Smart, who was also acquired in a deadline deal, may have a limited role for the rest of the season as Washington concentrates on developing its young talent. Rookie guard Carlton Carrington told Josh Robbins of The Athletic that he welcomes being tutored by the former Defensive Player of the Year. “Myself and the Wizards want me to really solidify myself on the defensive end, and (with Marcus) that’s someone who has solidified himself on the defensive end since he walked in the league,” Carrington said. “He’s really good at it, really crafty at it. So I definitely, from day one, just want to pick his brain and just make my life easier on making other guys’ lives terrible.”
- The Wizards will find out at the May 12 lottery if their rebuilding strategy pays off big, notes David Aldridge of The Athletic. Aldridge states that the team is relying heavily on lottery luck to land a top-three pick in the next two drafts and add at least one franchise-changing player.
The wizards are relying on lottery luck in the next TWO drafts?
Wow, that’s quite a “process.” I feel for the fans and the players. How do you go on competing this year and even next year knowing that management is hoping for great draft picks two years in a row?
They ended up with the #2 pick last year and got Alex Sarr. Maybe he’ll pan out, maybe he won’t, but he isn’t someone to build around – he’s more of a guy you hope will be in the rotation. In the end, they had a good draft because they got good value in the middle of the 1st round (Carrington) and later in the 1st (George). And the problem with this last draft was a lack of impact guys/weak top 10. Maybe they should have taken Stephon Castle at #2?
In the end, they did what they could last year. They have several young guys who might end up being important rotation guys, and they are giving them time to develop.
The reality is, even if they end up drafting Cooper Flagg this year and adding a high level free agent, so much of the team is so young that they would still end up with a pretty high draft pick in 2026. Might as well wait a year on that FA and maximize the team’s chances to get a second transformative pick in a very deep 2026 draft.
It’s okay. This team was so irrelevant for so long. A long rebuild is better than another decade of winning 40% of their games.
OK, yes fair enough. I understand the thinking behind it but both the players and the fans putting hopes on pause and doing it deliberately seems tough.
But on the other hand seems like a reasonable enough expectation if they ever want to get off the ground and turn it around.
Is there a way the Wiz can compete next year. I think not.