Bucks Insider Proposes Major Kyle Kuzma Change Next Season

The Milwaukee Bucks' move to trade former three-time All-Star small forward Khris Middleton to the Washington Wizards, a core part of their 2021 championship run alongside fellow All-Stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday, may have been more a referendum on Middleton's health than it was a Bucks endorsement of its return haul.

Middleton has struggled with injuries since the Bucks' 2021-22 title defense run, and an ill-timed ailment may have prevented Milwaukee from at least returning to the Finals that year. Without Middleton, the Bucks fell in seven games to the Boston Celtics during a critical semifinal matchup. Milwaukee hasn't made it out of the first round since, and now has only one starter left from that title run — Antetokounmpo.

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The Bucks brought back combo forward Kyle Kuzma and center Jericho Sims in what wound up being a multi-team swap to dump the Middleton contract. Kuzma had a miserable run as a starter, and was ultimately demoted by head coach Doc Rivers in Game 5 of the team's first-round playoff series against the Indiana Pacers.

Now, Dalton Sell of FanSided's Behind The Buck Pass advocates for a permanent Kuzma bench role moving forward.

Sell also explains why that's not the only change Rivers needs to enact when it comes to allocating time for the 6-foot-9 Utah product.

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"Kuzma faced a lot of adversity last season, coming aboard via trade late in the season and battling injuries in the playoffs," Sell writes. "However, what didn't help was Doc Rivers playing him out of position, using him a small forward rather than his traditional power forward, and asking him to do much more than what he should have been."

Kuzma posted solid numbers offensively while looking like a shell of his prime Los Angeles Lakers-era self defensively during the regular season. In 33 games (32 starts) for Milwaukee, he averaged 14.5 points on .455/.333/.663 shooting splits, 5.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 0.5 steals a night.

But during the playoffs, his production fell of a cliff. He averaged just 5.8 points on .343/.200/.500 shooting splits, 2.2 rebounds, and 0.8 assists. With All-Star Damian Lillard missing multiple games due to different ailments, Kuzma's performance trended in the absolute wrong direction — in part, Sell contends, because Kuzma primarily played in Middleton's old position, small forward.

"Playing Kuzma at his natural position has proven to work," Sell adds. "During the 2019-20 NBA season, when he helped the Los Angeles Lakers win it all, Kuzma played just nine percent of his regular season time at small forward. In the playoffs, that jumped up to 30 percent, but he was still at his natural position for 70 percent of the time. He looked comfortable in that role and was a key piece in the title run."

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