The New York Knicks were recently billed as a suitable trade partner with the Washington Wizards for their gifted scorer Kyle Kuzma.
Knicks: Kyle Kuzma’s growth in the league makes him an attractive trade target
The NBA world got a first glimpse at just how talented Kuzma is at putting the ball in the basket after he got drafted in 2017. The Michigan native won a championship in 2020 with the Los Angeles Lakers and flashed his potential to be a 25-point-per-game caliber player.
The Lakers had many mouths to feed then, and Kuzma had wings to spread. He’s done that with the Wizards, averaging at least 21.2 points per contest in each of his last two full seasons in Washington, and another 17 PPG through the early portion of the current campaign.
Knicks urged to move Josh Hart in three-team deal for Kuzma
Colin Keane of The Sporting News recognizes the 6-9 forward’s immense gifts for scoring and the way in which he could service a Knicks team that could use more shot-creation. That’s why he rationalized the sensibility behind New York pursuing the Utah product by saying:
“A guy like Kuzma who can just focus on volume scoring and help on the glass would carve out a much-needed role in New York,” Keane argued.
Acquiring Kuzma would mean sending the Wizards Josh Hart. To make the money work, the Knicks would also have to involve a third team in the deal to avoid also having to ship Miles McBride off to Washington (giving up Hart and McBride for Kuzma would be a bad trade for New York).”
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Kuzma would give the Knicks a tremendous boost on the glass and scoring departments
The 29-year-old is an active rebounder. He currently is corralling seven boards a night and hasn’t averaged less than six in any season for the last five years. But really, Kuzma would be a surefire bucket-getter that All-Star Jalen Brunson can swing the ball to and let operate from the wing or from the top of the key, where Kuzma thrives in triple-threat situations.
The Knicks already have three volume scorers in Brunson, All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns, and Mikal Bridges all trying to figure things out in New York, as well as OG Anunoby who himself has the potential to blossom into a 20 PPG player if that were his role on Broadway. Nevertheless, Kuzma would allow the Knicks to play big with him at the three or four, and also help them drill more threes and get up shots quickly — two areas that are killing their offense at the moment.
A player with championship pedigree, scoring chops, size, and versatility like Kuzma is a desirable talent for any team to chase. He may not be a tenacious defender that fits in line with Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau’s M-O on that end of the floor, but what he does bring to the table more than compensates for that.
