The first two seasons of Wes Unseld Jr.’s coaching career with the Washington Wizards led to a pair of 35-win years. His third season is off to a much worse start, with the Wizards in second-to-last place in the Eastern Conference at 5-23.
Bradley Beal is long gone, and there’s no one left to pick up the scoring slack left behind.
However, Kyle Kuzma is having another strong season and is averaging a new career-high 23 points per game, as Washington’s leading scorer. Yet, at 28 years old, he’s likely not considered a franchise cornerstone for a team that doesn’t look close to competing for an NBA Championship any time soon.
However, the excellent year Kuzma is having is raising eyebrows among front offices looking to add a scoring punch to their roster. With Washington headed for another year of playoffless basketball, it only makes sense to gauge trade interest in Kuzma too.
According to Yahoo’s Jake Fischer, Kuzma’s four-year, $90 million contract is “considered quite valuable” around the NBA and could “bring back legitimate first-round draft capital“.
Kuzma just signed that extension in Washington back in July, but being able to parlay it into a first-round pick has to at least be considered for a Wizards team that needs an injection of high-end talent. The NBA trade deadline is on Feb. 8, 2024, giving Washington plenty of time to weigh trade offers for Kuzma.