Bucks Trade For Kyle Kuzma is Better Than Originally Expected

This was despite power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo playing at his usual excellent level, recording 30 points, 20 total rebounds, 13 assists, two steals, and two blocks.

Naturally, fans have been pointing fingers in all directions, trying to find someone to blame for the way things turned out. This includes forward Kyle Kuzma, who was acquired from the Washington Wizards at the trade deadline in exchange for fan-favorite Khris Middleton.

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While Kuzma had a solid regular season with the Bucks, averaging 14.5 points, 5.6 total rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 0.5 steals per game across 33 games.

Unfortunately, Kuzma did not play at this level in the series against the Pacers, where he only averaged 5.8 points, 2.2 total rebounds, and 0.8 assists in five games. Worst of all, he failed to record a single stat while playing 22 minutes in Game 1.

This has fans declaring that the trade for Kuzma was a bust. However, other signs outside of the playoffs may indicate otherwise.

In a report from Erick Nehm and Sam Amick of The Athletic, trading Middleton for Kuzma may have helped seal Milwaukee's future.

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"Kuzma makes roughly $7 million less than Middleton, so swapping them at the deadline helped the Bucks get under the second apron and provided more options in the offseason," Nehm and Amick said. "One such tool is a trade exception worth roughly $7.2 million, which would allow the Bucks to take in a player with a salary of that size or smaller."

"Avoiding the second apron means the team’s future first-round pick isn’t frozen, so it can trade either its 2031 or 2032 first-round picks and it will now have access to the $14.1 million non-taxpayer midlevel exception, which can be split among multiple players."

In other words, the Bucks now have more options to build than they did before. While this doesn't mean anything immediately, fans could be seeing a more complete team next season.

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