Kyle Kuzma's stint with the Washington Wizards was nothing short of a disaster. Coming over from the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2021 Russell Westbrook trade, Kuzma's struggles and comments turned fans off from supporting the forward. Many saw him being traded to the Milwaukee Bucks as the long-awaited end to the Kuzma saga.
Now, fans have more reason to rejoice over Kuzma's departure. Kuzma was traded to the Bucks for Khris Middleton... and 2024 first-round pick AJ Johnson. In the last few weeks, Johnson has been playing the best basketball of his young NBA career.
How good has he been? Well, he's already surpassed Kuzma's wins above replacement stat, according to Andrew Bailey.
"Kyle Kuzma has fewer wins over replacement player with the Bucks than AJ Johnson has with the Wizards," Bailey posted to X.
According to Basketball-Reference, Kuzma has a -1.89 WAR with the Bucks this season, while Johnson has a -0.81 WAR. WAR (short for wins over replacement-level) is a metric used to determine how many "wins" a player provides compared to the theoretical performance of a player signed to a minimum contract (the "worst" NBA players). This means that Johnson, a rookie, has been slightly better than Kuzma in terms of meaningful production.
Kuzma's last season with the Wizards was dismal, to say the least. He averaged 15.2 points per game on horrible efficiency (42.0% from the field, 28.1% from three-point range), along with 6.1 rebounds, and 2.5 assists. Johnson, on the other hand, is showing flashes of his capabilities as a rookie. He's averaging 8.1 points per game this season. While the rookie is just as inefficient as Kuzma was, him being in his first year leaves some ample room for improvement.
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This story was originally published March 31, 2025 at 8:44 PM.