How Much Better (Or Worse) Does Kyle Kuzma Make The Milwaukee Bucks?

The Milwaukee Bucks and Washington Wizards joined the blockbuster party on Wednesday, swapping Kyle Kuzma for Khris Middleton. In the move, AJ Johnson and swap rights to Milwaukee’s 2028 first-round pick are headed to Washington, while Patrick Baldwin Jr. and a 2025 second-round pick join Kuzma on the Bucks.

Given the Wizards’ bottom-feeder status at 8-41, the immediate focus of this deal is on the Bucks. Milwaukee is a good (26-22), not great (fifth in the East), team with two superstars, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, aiming to win a title.

Does this deal help them get over the hump? Or does it bring them even further from their ultimate goal?

Khris Middleton Has Been Better Than Kyle Kuzma

On a per-minute basis, Middleton has been a better basketball player than Kuzma this year.  In 2024-25, Middleton is averaging 19.1 points per 75 possessions on 63.3 percent true shooting. Meanwhile, Kuzma is averaging 19.2 points per 75 on 48.7 percent true shooting. Middleton is also outpacing Kuzma in many impact metrics.

So Why Trade For Kyle Kuzma?

If Middleton has been the better player, why would the Bucks give up assets — the pick swap and a2024 first-round pick in Johnson — to get Kuzma? The simple answer is money. Middleton is making about $31.7 million this year. Kuzma, on the other hand, is only getting paid $23.5 million.

This deal takes the Bucks out of the second apron, which allows them to save money and aggregate salaries for future trades. So, they can now combine guys like Bobby Portis ($12.5 million), Pat Connaughton ($9.4 million) and MarJon Beauchamp ($2.7 million) in another meaningful trade before Thursday’s deadline, if they so choose. Prior to the Middleton-Kuzma swap, they could not. On top of that, while Middleton’s salary increases in 2025-26, Kuzma is on a declining contract through 2026-27.

Kuzma also helps to make one of the NBA’s oldest rosters a bit younger, given he’s 29 and Middleton is 33.

Context Matters

The most optimistic view regarding this deal is the Bucks made it because they felt it would improve their team and better allocate skills across the roster.

For his career, Middleton has been a scorer and creator. In the past, this served the Bucks well. However, now with Lillard in the fold, they have enough offensive firepower between him and Antetokounmpo. This makes Middleton’s fit redundant. What they really need is role players who can space the floor, defend, attack closeouts and provide secondary rim protection to flank their stars and provide lineup balance.

Over the last four years, Kuzma has been a worse version of the archetype Middleton is classified as. However, he hasn’t always been that type of player. Years ago, he was an integral complementary player for the Los Angeles Lakers during their championship in 2019-20. Look at how the numbers measuring crucial role player skills we outlined above differ between this year and 2019-20:

Also, I’m of the belief Kuzma’s shooting can improve in Milwaukee. His 3-point numbers are down from his time with the Lakers because the Wizards’ poor offensive infrastructure caused him to take more heavily contested threes than he otherwise would on a healthier offensive team.

Middleton, particularly in his fragile state and at his advanced age, could never evolve into this type of piece. Kuzma has shown capable of adapting his game in the past. Now, that was nearly half a decade ago. One could argue he may not be as eager and hungry (he’s made a LOT of money since then) as he was in his early 20s. But the Bucks seeming willing to take that risk.

The Bottom Line

There’s a chance Kuzma never unlearns the bad habits he acquired during his time with the Wizards and the Bucks end up sinking their title hopes after further drying up their limited asset pool. However, it’s also possible he buys into the role the Bucks need him to fill and becomes their version of what P.J. Washington gave the Dallas Mavericks last season.

If that happens, the Bucks (probably) still aren’t an inner circle contenders. But they do get another step closer to this dream. And hey, if they use their new financial flexibility to make another win-now move, they could become the team no one wants to play in the Eastern Conference.