Kyle Kuzma on the block
The rising belief leaguewide is that the Wizards are eager to find a trade partner for Kuzma at some point during the next six-plus weeks … and that Kuzma would want to depart this time with the 4-22 Wizards scarcely even trying to be competitive heading into the loaded 2025 NBA Draft. The 29-year-old, of course, possesses no formal mechanism in his contract to block trades, but the Wizards unexpectedly let Kuzma make the call a year ago. The Mavericks pivoted swiftly and completed trades for Washington’s Daniel Gafford and Charlotte’s P.J. Washington instead and wound up making a run to the NBA Finals for just the third time in franchise history.Source: marcstein.substack.com More on this storyline There were some rival teams at Showcase wondering aloud whether the Mavericks, who are known to be exploring their options for potential frontcourt upgrades, might make another trade run at Kuzma this winter. But such a scenario was strongly dismissed to me. -via marcstein.substack.com / December 23, 2024 From McNair down, the Kings are well aware this roster needs an upgrade, if not multiple. More specifically, team sources say they’re prioritizing backup center and the wing spots. There are some familiar names who appear to be back on their radar, league sources said. Among them: Portland’s Jerami Grant, Utah’s John Collins or Washington’s Jonas Valančiūnas and Kyle Kuzma. Brooklyn’s Cam Johnson is known to be of significant interest, as is — to a lesser degree — the Nets’ Dorian Finney-Smith. The notion of adding a high-profile player like Zach LaVine (Chicago) or Brandon Ingram (New Orleans) is believed to be very unlikely, but the Kings have made a habit during the McNair-Wilcox era of exploring any and all possibilities that might improve the team, even if they don’t appear to make sense at first glance. -via New York Times / December 21, 2024 Players to keep a close eye on include Kyle Kuzma, Nikola Vučević, Jonas Valančiūnas, Malcolm Brogdon, Lonzo Ball, De’Andre Hunter, Jakob Pöltl, Jaden Springer, Day’Ron Sharpe, Bruce Brown, PJ Tucker, Bones Hyland, KJ Martin, Duop Reath, Marcus Smart, Josh Okogie, Anfernee Simons, Kevin Huerter and Trey Lyles (among others). Some sources anticipate that the Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans Pelicans and Cleveland Cavaliers will make moves before the deadline to reduce their salaries to fall below the NBA’s luxury-tax threshold of $170.8 million. -via Bleacher Report / December 19, 2024
Source: marcstein.substack.com
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