In Washington D.C., the Wizards are still looking for answers in the aftermath of another disappointing season. If the team wants to start winning games and making some strides in the Eastern Conference, they will need to make some big changes.
As reported earlier this week, Bradley Beal is likely to stick around for the foreseeable future, but young stud Kyle Kuzma has not been added to the list of untouchables.
In fact, Kuz is on the trade block leading up to July’s free agency period as GM Tommy Sheppard looks for a co-star to fit next to Beal.
All-Star guard Bradley Beal is widely expected to decline his player option to re-sign with Washington for a five-year deal that could reach upwards of $248 million. Wizards personnel have long operated with confidence that Beal would return to the one franchise he’s known.
The other consistent word surrounding Washington had been the Wizards’ active pursuit to find a veteran point guard to pair with Beal in the backcourt. Throughout Washington’s efforts, rival teams repeatedly mentioned that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma were available for trade. The Wizards were ultimately able to send Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith to Denver on Wednesday in order to land Monte Morris and Will Barton from the Nuggets.
The Wizards showed some signs of life early into the 2021-22 campaign before their great collapse. For a few weeks, they were playing like one of the best teams in the East and even held the conference’s best record at one point.
Eventually, things turned sour and Washington found themselves on the outside of the playoff picture.
Beal is staying loyal to the franchise, and it makes sense why. But the team will have to do more if they really want to bring some success to the franchise and trading Kuzma could be the first step towards that goal.
Last season, he averaged 17.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game on 45.2% shooting.
