Kyle Kuzma's Milwaukee Bucks tenure has already soured enough. The team hopes he can fill a key role at the forward spot next season, but it probably isn't realistic to expect a major leap. On the other hand, although it seems impossible, Kuzma's stock could plummet further. One worst-case scenario would rehash a failed experiment from two trade deadlines ago. Painful even in memory, the Bucks' Jae Crowder addition curdled from disappointment at first to disgust by year two.
Ghastly Crowder downfall is one Kuzma must avoid for Bucks
To get Crowder, they sacrificed a boatload of second-round picks alongside George Hill, Serge Ibaka, and Jordan Nwora. That offseason, the Bucks re-signed Crowder for the veteran minimum.
Prior to being dealt to Milwaukee, Crowder sat out the whole year after demanding a trade. He arrived rusty in Milwaukee, but excited to find himself in a new city. Unfortunately, that excitement did not translate on the court.
In 18 games for the Bucks down the stretch, he averaged 6.9 points and 3.8 rebounds. It wasn't all bad, as Crowder shot 43.6 percent on triples. During Milwaukee's first-round loss to Miami, though, he went 3-of-13 in three games, including just 18 seconds in the decisive Game 5, accumulating a -18 plus-minus in 41 minutes. Mutual frustration ensued.
The Bucks ran it back in 2023-24, but Crowder's productivity only declined to 6.2 points on 42/35/72 percent shooting splits. As he managed a nagging back injury, his contributions remained down despite a minutes increase and 25 starts in 50 games. In the playoffs, Crowder was no better than the year before. Not only did the trade flop initially, but the Bucks failed to recoup any value by keeping him.
Even more so than with Kuzma, the Bucks gave up way too much for an erstwhile helpful but aging role player. That much was clear from the get-go. In hindsight, the trade looks downright laughable. That layoff with the Suns may have expedited Crowder's decline more than Milwaukee anticipated. After playing nine games for the Kings in 2024-25, he remains unsigned.
His NBA career is likely near the end.
Higher floor but more room to fall
Such an abrupt demise is almost surely not in the cards for Kuzma, who is 29 compared to Crowder's age when traded. Even in a career-worst season, he averaged 14.5 points and 5.6 boards as a starter in Doc Rivers' lineup.
But some version of a Crowder collapse definitely lurks at the pessimistic end of the spectrum. Kuzma was just as bad, if not worse, in the playoffs, due in no small part to his larger role. Compared to his probably spurious heights in Washington, where he averaged over 21 points per game in 2022-23 and '23-24, he also has further to fall.
How bad will it look by season's end if Kuzma drops from the regular rotation to average 15 minutes per game with an awful net rating? He already has experience being benched after fan outcry reached deafening levels last postseason.
He's also making a lot more money and was traded for franchise hero Khris Middleton, hiking the emotional stakes of underachievement.
If things do go south in Milwaukee, there is one Crowder parallel the team wouldn't mind fulfilling: if Kuzma's next team is the Kings, there's a decent chance he'll get there via a trade from the Bucks. A potential Malik Monk deal comes to mind.
Wherever he is by the end of the season, entering year nine and under contract through 2026-27, it would be an extreme exaggeration to suggest that Kuzma is en route to premature retirement. All the same, however, the clock is ticking for him to rehab his value and secure more than a one-year contract after his current deal expires.
Hopefully he veers far, far away from the Jae Crowder blueprint.