Contrary to the expectations of many, Kyle Kuzma has impressed in the early going, contributing consistently on both ends of the floor. He fits what the Bucks want to do: play defense and push the pace on the other end. Equally apparent is that Bobby Portis does not.
He doesn't play defense. He takes a lot of inefficient mid-range shots. Doc Rivers is quickly realizing that Kuzma is a much better fit for this version of the team, and it's showing in his rotations.
Kuzma looks crisp, Portis archaic
In each of the past six games, Kuzma equaled or surpassed Portis' time on the floor. On the season, he is averaging 24 minutes per night to Portis' 19.4. Entering the season, most fans' predictions would have the minute distribution reversed.
Kuzma has proven, however, that he offers advantages Portis simply can't. He is the big, nimble wing defender the Bucks have been begging for. He keeps the ball moving on offense and has cleaned up his shot diet.
Defense is where Kuzma makes his bread, but he has also been surprisingly consistent on the opposite end. He reached double figures each of his last five games, and efficiently so. He single-handedly kept the Bucks in their game against the Kings with 16 fourth-quarter points. He has improved his shot selection and is making 66 percent of his 2-point attempts.
It's early, but he is enjoying career-best efficiency at the free-throw line (83.3 percent). Overall, Kuzma is averaging 12.6 points on 62 percent true shooting. He actually has a positive net rating and box score plus-minus.
Portis' season tells a very different story. A perennial Sixth Man of the Year contender, this season he has stuck out like a sore thumb within Milwaukee's faster-paced, defense–minded unit. He has never been known for his defensive efforts, but typically, he does enough as a scorer and rebounder to compensate. Not so in 2025-26.
To start, Portis just isn't producing. He's scoring 8.8 points per game on 41 percent shooting from the field and 35.5 percent from distance. That amounts to a ghastly 48.8 true shooting percentage. His rebounds, his main contribution on defense, are down to 5.7 per game.
His box score stats don't capture the fundamental issue of fit - they just make it more glaring. Despite his range as a shooter, Portis has always taken a hefty dose of shots within the arc. He is obsessed with post-ups. That doesn't mesh well with the Bucks' emphasis on 3-point volume.
To make matters worse, his shots aren't falling. On 2-point attempts, Portis is converting only 52.2 percent under 10 feet and below 40 percent beyond that. As a proportion of his overall attempts, he is actually taking more 3-pointers than usual, but his shot selection on twos remains problematic.
Pair his offensive inefficiency with poor defense and you get disaster. Compared to Kuzma's -0.5 on-off rating, Portis sits at -11.9. Their offensive ratings (-6.0 versus -5.6) are nearly identical. That doesn't favor Portis.
Even as a scorer, Kuzma has been more involved since the first few games of the season. Portis has not outshot Kuzma in field goal attempts since the Knicks game and is 7-of-20 from the field in the last three. He looks like a ghost.
Converting more baseline jumpers and turnaround fadeaways isn't going to make him a better fit for the Milwaukee Bucks' offense. He can space the floor, but he still operates at a plodding pace, and defense is a major issue. Kuzma is the opposite. It's not what anyone expected, but it didn't take long for Rivers to find out that he is a more productive player in the system the Bucks want to run.