Wizards Potential Trade Piece Likely To Return Monday

The Washington Wizards have not been good this season.

That may be an understatement.

Washington currently has a 5-24 record which is the worst in the NBA .

They went the entire month of November without a win and had a 16-game losing streak.

Of course, when a teams record is so poor, trade rumors usually come with the franchise.

Veteran pieces who dont fit in the squads rebuilding timeline are often shipped away.

For the Wizards, Kyle Kuzma has been involved in trade rumors since last season.

Kuzma looks like he will be making a return to the court after a lengthy stay on the shelf due to injury on Monday.

Wizards Potential Trade Piece Likely To Return Monday Kuzma Likely To Return For Wizards On Monday The 29-year-old Kuzma hasnt played in more than a month, last appearing in a game for the Wizards on November 27.

After missing 12 straight contests with a sprained rib cartilage, Kuzma is not listed on the injury report for Mondays home outing against the New York Knicks.

The Wizards went 3-9 during his absence from the lineup.

Now in his eighth season, and fourth with the Wizards, Washington would like to see Kuzma score with better efficiency than he had been this season prior to getting hurt.

It would help his trade stock by doing so as well.

In his 12 games this season, Kuzma is posting averages of 15.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists.

He has shot 42.0% from the field, 27.6% from beyond the arc, and 68.8% from the foul line.

All three would be career-lows for the forward.

Kuzma shot with much greater accuracy in the previous season for Washington.

In his 70 appearances, he averaged 22.2 points on shooting splits of .463/.336/.775.

Selected with the 27th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, Kuzma spent his first four years playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.

He was a key reserve on their 2020 championship team.

Kuzma was involved in a five-team trade in the 2021 offseason that brought Russell Westbrook to the Lakers.

The 6-foot-9 Kuzma is playing in the second season of the four-year deal he signed worth $90 million.

Declined A Trade To Mavericks Last Season As mentioned, Kuzma was also involved in trade talks last season.

After last seasons trade deadline, he spoke to Josh Robbins of The Athletic on how Wizards president Michael Winger asked him if he wanted to be dealt to the Dallas Mavericks.

Kuzma said , There was a point in time, Dallas, they definitely did want me.

Winger presented me with what the trade was and obviously didnt want to trade me and kind of left the decision up to me a little bit and asked me what I wanted to do.

I told him I wanted to stay and continue to build something.

And that was kind of the end of it.

Dallas instead traded for P.J.

Washington .

They were able to reach the NBA Finals where they lost to the Boston Celtics.

If Kuzma plays better, there should be teams that have interest.

This time around, Washington may not ask if he wants to be dealt.

This article first appeared on Last Word On Sports and was syndicated with permission..

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