NBA Rumors: Wizards' Kyle Kuzma Trade Value Set at Multiple 1st-Round Draft Picks

The Washington Wizards have been one of the worst teams in the NBA this season, going just 7-31, and should fully be in rebuild mode going forward.

That means players like Kyle Kuzma should very much be on the trade block as the Wizards look to stock up on young players and draft assets. And according to The Athletic's Sam Vecenie, "League sources peg Kuzma's current price tag to be something in the vein of two first-round picks or equivalent value."

The 28-year-old has been Washington's best player, averaging 22.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game while shooting 46 percent from the field and 34.9 percent from three. But he's sorely miscast as a top offensive option, and likely would be best-suited serving as a third option for a contender.

It's questionable whether such a team would give up multiple firsts for Kuzma, as Vecenie noted. But his four-year, $90 million contract—which deescalates in value and will pay him $23.5 million next season, $21.4 million in 2025-26 and $19.4 million in 2026-27—is a solid value for the role he'd be asked to play.

Kuzma has filled the third option role before, doing so for two seasons behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the Los Angeles Lakers. He averaged 12.8 points per game in the 2020-21 season in that role and 12.9 points per contest the following year before being dealt to the Wizards in the ill-fated Russell Westbrook deal.

On the struggling Wizards, he's stepped into top billing, but the team is eventually going to turn that distinction over to younger players. The ceiling for a Kuzma-led team is about what the Wizards have shown this season.

If the season ended today, the Wizards would be one of three teams with top odds (14 percent) at landing the top overall pick, joining the similarly hapless Detroit Pistons (3-26) and San Antonio Spurs (7-31).

What those teams have that Washington lacks, however, is direction. The Pistons are compiling a young core around Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson. The Spurs have their superstar-of-the-future in Victor Wembanyama.

Even other struggling teams like the Charlotte Hornets (LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller) and Portland Trail Blazers (Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, Anfernee Simons) have clear pieces they are building around.

But not these Wizards. It's time for the team to embrace a full rebuild, and dealing Kuzma would set that in motion.