Re: The Official Kyle Kuzma Thread
Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2023 9:19 pm
Case closed. Kuz>Tatum. -Terd
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"We can't guard a stop sign," Kuzma said. "That's kind of really what it boils down to. We let anybody get whatever they want on us. So, until we change that, then that's probably going to be the result."
The Wizards have the NBA's 30th ranked defense, with a 120.6 defensive rating. They are just behind the Charlotte Hornets, who have a defensive rating of 120.3.
tontoz wrote:"We can't guard a stop sign," Kuzma said. "That's kind of really what it boils down to. We let anybody get whatever they want on us. So, until we change that, then that's probably going to be the result."
The Wizards have the NBA's 30th ranked defense, with a 120.6 defensive rating. They are just behind the Charlotte Hornets, who have a defensive rating of 120.3.
closg00 wrote:tontoz wrote:"We can't guard a stop sign," Kuzma said. "That's kind of really what it boils down to. We let anybody get whatever they want on us. So, until we change that, then that's probably going to be the result."
The Wizards have the NBA's 30th ranked defense, with a 120.6 defensive rating. They are just behind the Charlotte Hornets, who have a defensive rating of 120.3.
True, but has Wes shaken-up the rotations in any way? Wes hasn't changed anything and sticks to his rotations
bubba hotep wrote:PIF, I've got to ask. Are you still taking Brandon Clarke over Kuzma?
DCZards wrote:...Clarke is a bench player who has averaged a little over 20 mins a game for his career, usually against other bench players.
Kuzma is a starter who averages more than 30 mins a game and for the past 3 years has been either his team’s first, second, or third offensive option.
Can’t ignore those things when comparing numbers.
nate33 wrote:I just did a deep dive on Kuzma's shooting and came across a few interesting tidbits.
Kuzma is actually an outstanding 3-point shooter from the corners, and he is terrible from above the break. Sadly, he attempts a lot more shots from above the break. Presumably, much of this is because of the personnel on the roster. Kuzma is needed to run a lot of offensive actions so he doesn't have the luxury of hanging around the corners and waiting for catch-and-shoot opportunities. But the point is, the numbers suggest he could be really effective as a lower usage 3rd/4th option player on a good team.
Among the 94 players who have attempted at least 40 corner 3's, Kuzma ranks 29th in percentage, shooting a whopping 44.8%. And most of the guys ahead of him are guards and undersized forwards. Among guys who can legitimately defend the 4, only 7 players are shooting better from the corners (Batum, PG, Jaden McDaniels, Cam Johnson, Siakam, Markkanen and MPJ). So if you need a guy to stretch the floor from the 4 position, there are few better than Kuzma.
The problem's with Kuzma's efficiency is that he is taking far too many above-the-break 3's. Of the 97 players who have attempted 130 or more above-the-break 3-pointers, Kuzma ranks 90th in percentage, shooting an abysmal 31.3%. Only Vucevic, Randle, Dinwiddie, Wemby, Wagner, Lopez and Poole are worse. But what's infuriating is that he ranks 26th in above-the-break attempts, shooting 217 times from that range! The only guy who shoots more than him at a worse percentage is Jordan Poole LOL. 20 out of the 25 guys who shoot more than him do so at a percentage of at least 36% or better - they SHOULD be taking those shots.
The point is, if Kuzma got to play on a team like the Dallas Maverick, and was able to shoot more corner-threes than above-the-break 3's, he'd post a 3P% in the 38-40 range and his TS% would be significantly better. It's also worth noting that he is a 41.7% 3-point shooter (on 96 attempts) on wide open looks (nearest defender 6+ feet) and it plummets to 31.8% when there is a defender within 4-6 feet (on 151 attempts). Again, if he had the luxury of being more judicious in his shot attempts, I think the numbers show that he would be a MUCH more efficient player.
When Wizards chief decision-maker Michael Winger informed Kuzma that the general framework of a trade was in place to send Kuzma to the Mavericks — a potential deal that Winger felt only lukewarm about — Kuzma told Winger he wanted to remain with the Wizards.
“There was a point in time, Dallas, they definitely did want me,” Kuzma told The Athletic on Monday, before the Wizards played the Mavericks at American Airlines Center. “Winger presented me with what the trade was and obviously didn’t 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.”
Winger called the Mavericks back and said the deal was off the table.
If that level of transparency between team officials and a player ahead of a trade deadline sounds a bit unusual — well, it is unusual.
Kuzma does not have a no-trade clause built into the four-year, $90 million guaranteed contract that he and the Wizards agreed to last summer. But Kuzma committed to re-signing with Washington after team officials traded Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porziņģis; those trades set in motion a rebuild that almost certainly will take years to complete. Winger pledged to Kuzma and Kuzma’s agent, Austin Brown, that, unless the Wizards’ received a trade offer in the future for Kuzma that was too good to refuse, he would listen to Kuzma’s input about potential trades.
The potential trade with Dallas was one of those instances — a potential trade that, from the Wizards’ perspective, was fair but not a home run.
nate33 wrote:Some interesting stuff from Josh Robbins at the Athletic about the Kuzma trade talks with Dallas:When Wizards chief decision-maker Michael Winger informed Kuzma that the general framework of a trade was in place to send Kuzma to the Mavericks — a potential deal that Winger felt only lukewarm about — Kuzma told Winger he wanted to remain with the Wizards.
“There was a point in time, Dallas, they definitely did want me,” Kuzma told The Athletic on Monday, before the Wizards played the Mavericks at American Airlines Center. “Winger presented me with what the trade was and obviously didn’t 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.”
Winger called the Mavericks back and said the deal was off the table.
If that level of transparency between team officials and a player ahead of a trade deadline sounds a bit unusual — well, it is unusual.
Kuzma does not have a no-trade clause built into the four-year, $90 million guaranteed contract that he and the Wizards agreed to last summer. But Kuzma committed to re-signing with Washington after team officials traded Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porziņģis; those trades set in motion a rebuild that almost certainly will take years to complete. Winger pledged to Kuzma and Kuzma’s agent, Austin Brown, that, unless the Wizards’ received a trade offer in the future for Kuzma that was too good to refuse, he would listen to Kuzma’s input about potential trades.
The potential trade with Dallas was one of those instances — a potential trade that, from the Wizards’ perspective, was fair but not a home run.
I really like the approach management has with it's key players. Winger told Kuzma that he would only trade him with Kuzma's consent, but also left the door open to trade him without his consent if the offer was too good to refuse. That seems like a fair and honest way of dealing with the players without jeopardizing the future development of the team.
Frichuela wrote:Kyle Kuzma aka efficiency be damned..
I have been vocal on my wish to trade him but I guess we have to reconcile ourselves to the fact that this FO sees Kuzma as a key cog here for the foreseeable future...while I am convinced Turd also pushes for Kyle to stay due to his perceived "marketability"...
nate33 wrote:Frichuela wrote:Kyle Kuzma aka efficiency be damned..
I have been vocal on my wish to trade him but I guess we have to reconcile ourselves to the fact that this FO sees Kuzma as a key cog here for the foreseeable future...while I am convinced Turd also pushes for Kyle to stay due to his perceived "marketability"...
I think Kuzma will be moved when it makes sense to move him. Ideally, it will be after we've acquired a guy capable of taking on significant usage, and ideally, it will be in exchange for two FRP's.
Moving him right now for a single, not-so-good future pick from Dallas and Grant Williams' lousy contract doesn't strike me as a great idea.
nate33 wrote:I just did a deep dive on Kuzma's shooting and came across a few interesting tidbits.
Kuzma is actually an outstanding 3-point shooter from the corners, and he is terrible from above the break. Sadly, he attempts a lot more shots from above the break. Presumably, much of this is because of the personnel on the roster. Kuzma is needed to run a lot of offensive actions so he doesn't have the luxury of hanging around the corners and waiting for catch-and-shoot opportunities. But the point is, the numbers suggest he could be really effective as a lower usage 3rd/4th option player on a good team.
Among the 94 players who have attempted at least 40 corner 3's, Kuzma ranks 29th in percentage, shooting a whopping 44.8%. And most of the guys ahead of him are guards and undersized forwards. Among guys who can legitimately defend the 4, only 7 players are shooting better from the corners (Batum, PG, Jaden McDaniels, Cam Johnson, Siakam, Markkanen and MPJ). So if you need a guy to stretch the floor from the 4 position, there are few better than Kuzma.
The problem's with Kuzma's efficiency is that he is taking far too many above-the-break 3's. Of the 97 players who have attempted 130 or more above-the-break 3-pointers, Kuzma ranks 90th in percentage, shooting an abysmal 31.3%. Only Vucevic, Randle, Dinwiddie, Wemby, Wagner, Lopez and Poole are worse. But what's infuriating is that he ranks 26th in above-the-break attempts, shooting 217 times from that range! The only guy who shoots more than him at a worse percentage is Jordan Poole LOL. 20 out of the 25 guys who shoot more than him do so at a percentage of at least 36% or better - they SHOULD be taking those shots.
The point is, if Kuzma got to play on a team like the Dallas Maverick, and was able to shoot more corner-threes than above-the-break 3's, he'd post a 3P% in the 38-40 range and his TS% would be significantly better. It's also worth noting that he is a 41.7% 3-point shooter (on 96 attempts) on wide open looks (nearest defender 6+ feet) and it plummets to 31.8% when there is a defender within 4-6 feet (on 151 attempts). Again, if he had the luxury of being more judicious in his shot attempts, I think the numbers show that he would be a MUCH more efficient player.