The Washington Wizards made the move to trade Russell Westbrook to the Los Angeles Lakers a few years back in a draft night deal that sent Kyle Kuzma back to Washington as part of the Wizards huge return.
At the time, the trade seemed to be a steal for the Wizards who were not only getting draft capital in that night's draft, but a huge package that was headlined by Kuzma with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Montrezl Harrell also apart of the deal.
Clearly, the biggest selling point for Washington was the idea of snagging Kuzma who had impressed in his time with in Los Angeles. The forward impressed so much, that some fans of the Lakers were arguing the fact that the versatile wing was better than Celtics star Jayson Tatum (wild, I know).
And while he did show flashes of being a big time player when he arrived with the Wizards, his play never directly correlated to winning. Perhaps, that may be exactly why the Lakers were so content with moving on from the young playmaker even to make a deal that didn't work out on their end as well.
Kyle Kuzma is not a winning player
Kuzma is a dynamic player, there's no doubt about it. Through his eight year career, the forward is averaging 17.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game, with shooting splits of 45.1% from field goal range and 33.6% from beyond the arc.
Furthermore, Kuzma had a career-year with the Wizards last season where he averaged 22.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists on the season. That was a big reason for the Wizards opting to bring the veteran back this season despite their efforts to initiate a rebuild.
However, fast forward to now, Kuzma is having one of the worst seasons in his career and the 29-year-old just does not fit what the Wizards are aiming for in the future. His effort doesn't seem to match the motives of the team to have him lead by example, and up to this point he's yet to help Washington earn a winning seaon in four years with the team.
With rumors about the Wizards offloading Kuzma's contract before the NBA Trade Deadline in February, it seems that Washington front office is starting to realize the same thing that the Lakers brass did internally when they opted to ship him out of LA.
Talent is one thing, but the drive to lead a team, especially when losing is another and up to this point, Kuzma doesn't look like his play translates to winning. Now, he could find himself repping a new city on his chest after February's deadline passes.