FILE – Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma gestures to teammates during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings on March 18, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel, File)
After dealing away two of their top players this offseason, the Washington Wizards are keeping the third.
And now their direction is a little less obvious.
Kyle Kuzma agreed to a $102 million, four-year deal with the Wizards, a person with knowledge of the negotiations confirmed to The Associated Press on Friday. The deal comes on the heels of trades in which Washington agreed to send Bradley Beal to Phoenix and Kristaps Porzingis to Boston.
Kuzma opted out of a contract worth $13 million for next season, then received a much larger deal when free agency began Friday. He averaged 21.2 points per game in 2022-23, when Washington missed the playoffs for the second season in a row.
“DC let’s turn the city up,” Kuzma said on his Instagram page Friday night.
Most deals can’t be finalized until July 6, so it may be a little while before Washington’s front office comments on a series of moves that certainly reshaped the roster but ended up being something less than a complete teardown.
In the past couple weeks, the Wizards have agreed to the following:
— Trading Beal to the Suns, with Chris Paul and Landry Shamet coming to Washington, and then dealing Paul to Golden State in a deal bringing Jordan Poole to the Wizards.
— Trading Porzingis to Boston in a three-team deal in which the Wizards acquired Tyus Jones, Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala.
— Keeping Kuzma on a four-year deal.
— Trading Monte Morris to Detroit for a future second-round pick.
Kristaps Porzingis #6 and Bradley Beal #3 of the Washington Wizards celebrate after a play against the Chicago Bulls during the first half at Capital One Arena on October 21, 2022 in Washington, DC. Scott Taetsch/Getty Images/AFP
The Wizards haven’t advanced past the second round of the playoffs since 1979, one year after their only NBA title. They’ve had a handful of postseason appearances lately with the likes of John Wall, Russell Westbrook and Beal, but after back-to-back 35-win seasons, Washington brought in Michael Winger as its new team president, replacing general manager Tommy Sheppard.
Although there’s been plenty of mediocrity in Washington, the Wizards haven’t won fewer than 25 games in a full 82-game season since 2011. Consequently, they haven’t been picking all that close to the top of the draft. Washington traded up a spot this year to nab 18-year-old Bilal Coulibaly at No. 7 — a move that also seemed to indicate that the Wizards were focused on the long term.
But if shedding Beal and Porzingis looked like the start of a complete rebuild, keeping Kuzma — and even taking Poole, who is about to begin a four-year, $128 million deal — sends a mixed message.
To be fair, it also means Washington’s potential rotation next season deserves a second look. A starting five of Jones, Poole, Kuzma, Deni Avdija and Daniel Gafford could be entertaining if nothing else — and the Wizards also have Corey Kispert, who shot 42% from 3-point range last season. There’s some upside now, at least on the offensive end.
If all that means is another 35-win season, it’s debatable whether Washington has made any real progress, but the 27-year-old Kuzma certainly earned his big contract, and perhaps Poole can take advantage of a fresh start after a rough postseason with the Warriors. There are surely more moves to come as Winger and his front office try to mold the roster to their liking.
The Wizards have already made plenty of changes, but they aren’t quite starting over.