Another day, another Washington Wizards trade rumor as the NBA trade deadline approaches.
There's no denying that the Wizards have plenty of trade-worthy assets that could be of interest to contending teams as they look to load up down the back stretch of the regular season and gear up towards the playoffs.
One of the top players that both Wizards fans and fans around the league expect to be traded out of Washington is Kyle Kuzma. Considering his decline this season and his recent comments, the writing seems to be on the wall for a change of scenery as next week's deadline looms. Not to mention the fact that the 29-year-old simply doesn't match the timeline of the Wizards rebuild.
Plenty of rumors have speculated that Kuzma will indeed be on the move, but his landing spot is the one question that remains. However, after this latest hypothetical trade made by ESPN's Bobby Marks, a trade partner could be closer than originally thought.
Wizards send Kyle Kuzma to Eastern Conference contender in latest rumor
In a recent trade segment from Marks, the ESPN insider suggest that the Wizards could land a deal with the Milwaukee Bucks that would send Kuzma to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for another veteran forward.
In return, Washington would land Khris Middleton and a 2029 first-round pick which arguably is the most enticing part of the deal. While another veteran may not make sense for Washington, they could immediately re-route Middleton in another deal to cash in on even more assets.
Nonetheless, the 2029 first-round pick would essentially be banking on the idea that the Bucks success would be in the past and the first would convey the opportunity to pick within the lottery for the Wizards.
And while the deal may not make sense financially on paper, Marks explained that he $9 million difference in salary could work due to Kuzma's trade bonus that the Wizards would be set to pay in any deal that send the Utah product out of Washington.
Not only would the Wizards land a future first-round pick, but general manager Will Dawkins would be able to create some financial relief in 2026-27 as their rebuild will be well under way by then,
While no deal seems imminent for the star, it's worth noting that the NBA trade deadline has a lot of buzz surrounding it and the Wizards seem to be in the thick of things as both sellers and facilitators.