Kyle Kuzma Has Another Gear On Offense

As the Wizards' best player, Kyle Kuzma needs to do a lot of things during this rebuild and at least a couple of them come pretty naturally to him.

Mar 4, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma (33) calls a play against the Utah Jazz during the second half at the Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Creveling-Imagn Images / Christopher Creveling-Imagn Images

The Washington Wizards are squarely in the middle of a rebuild but that doesn't mean that players like Kyle Kuzma shouldn't be doing everything in his power to win games this season. Kuzma is a sleeper pick as a breakout candidate given the state of the franchise and where he's at as a veteran pro. With Bradley Beal now gone for the entire season, players like Kuzma really need to step up, especially on offense.

Kuzma should have an expanded role...

During this very obvious rebuild, Kuzma will probably be asked to do more on offense and shouldn't be bashful about it. There's no need to worry about efficiency (on some levels) because the Wizards just don't have a lot of scorers. Last season Kuzma averaged 21.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. Those are solid numbers already, but Kuzma should want to bump each of them up.

Kuzma has obviously improved during his time in the league...

If you find a way to spend almost a decade in the league, obviously you're playing pretty well and improving. That's the case with Kuzma, but he's still not a finished product. He's gotten better each year in terms of scoring at all three levels, but there is still room to improve from all distances, most notably as a three-point shooter. For his career, he's knocking down just under 34% of his three-point shots. Even a few more percentage points on that would take him into another tier as someone who can stretch the floor at 6-9.

Kuzma can be more of a playmaker...

Because of his size and guard tendencies, Kuzma has a great combination of traits that allow him to distribute the ball when he's looking to do so. It'll be interesting to see how he balances being a scorer and being a facilitator under new head coach Brian Keefe, because he can be very, very good at both. If he can up his assist numbers, he'll be very difficult to defend. If on any night he can go out and get you 25 and 6 or so, he'll take another step forward as the Wizards continue to rebuild.