Kyle Kuzma inherited the Milwaukee Bucks starting power forward slot when Giannis Antetokounmpo left town for Miami. No one ever expected Kuzma to replicate the same type of production that led to the best era of Bucks basketball during Giannis' prime. However, Kuzma has shown similarities to the Greek Freak in one regard. Unfortunately, it's the poor free throw shooting.
Kuzma's foul shooting is hurting Bucks
In 13 games, Kuzma is shooting an ugly 58.1 percent on his free throws. Among players to attempt at least 30 free throws this season, Kuzma has the fourth-worst percentage in the entire NBA. Ironically, Giannis has been better than his replacement, shooting 60.9 percent. Kuzma's decline at the line has been among the many problems plaguing the Milwaukee Bucks this season.
A good chunk of this sample size came from Milwaukee's latest loss, which came at the hands of the Orlando Magic. An aggressive Kuzma earned 15 free throw attempts, the second-most in one game in his entire NBA career. However, he made just seven. In a game the Bucks ironically lost by eight points, the forward's constant misses certainly loomed large.
Kuzma must be better. It was easy to forgive Giannis' poor foul shooting because of everything else he did on the court. Kuzma isn't reaching those heights. To be fair, it would be surprising if he stayed below 60 percent for the year. For his career, he's a 71.9 percent foul shooter; the Milwaukee Bucks would certainly take that level of success right now.
Kuzma isn't alone with free throw troubles
The Milwaukee Bucks are the fourth-worst free throw shooting team in the NBA this season based on percentage. Not all of that falls on Kuzma. Only five players are shooting 80 percent or better on free throw attempts. Offense has been hard enough to come by for the Bucks as is; they cannot afford to leave easy points on the table at the free throw line.
In particular, two non-Kuzma Bucks who must get into a groove are Ryan Rollins and Brayden Burries. Rollins is shooting just 70 percent after shooting 79.6 percent last year, while Burries is down at 72.2 percent after shooting 80.5 percent during his lone season at Arizona. If those two can get back to that level of production, it would be a major shot in the arm.
Yet, that wouldn't let Kuzma off the hook. He also must be better at the stripe.
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