Insider connects Kyle Kuzma to trade rumors, could Nuggets be involved?

Rumor season is in full swing for the NBA as we’re cruising towards the Finals and in a matter of days, it will be the offseason for 28 of the 30 teams in the league. Perhaps the biggest part of the rumor mill in the NBA offseason revolves around trade talks. There are some obvious trade candidates around the league, both players and teams.

But there are always some players and teams that come out of nowhere to make big blockbuster deals, taking swings at either improving or blowing their teams up. On Thursday, Jake Fischer, senior NBA reporter for Yahoo! Sports penned an article loaded with NBA transaction rumors. 

The Philadelphia 76ers offseason plans

In the article, Fischer was mostly focused on the Philadelphia 76ers, writing through the lens of their offseason. Philly has lots of cap space to play with and a bevy of draft picks. They have Joel Embiid in the prime of his career, and this is a big offseason for them to try and add talent to vault the team to contender status.

The free agency plan is one possible route, but a lot of those plans hinge on certain players hitting the open market such as LeBron James, Paul George, and others. The trade market may be more realistic as we already have heard about several players who seem destined to be moved this summer, such as Brandon Ingram, Zach Lavine, Dejounte Murray, and others.

The Kyle Kuzma trade market

One name that Fischer mentioned toward the end of his article as a real possibility in trades was Kyle Kuzma of the Washington Wizards. Kuzma has proven to be a solid 3&D wing player with good size and athleticism. He helped contribute to the Lakers winning a title but has been wasting away in Washington on one of the league’s worst teams.

Kuz also has a very reasonable contract with 3 years and $65 million left. The contract is also descending in value so he’ll make roughly $23.5 million this coming season and just $19.4 million in 2026-27, the final year of his deal.

Could the Nuggets make a play for Kuzma?

Kuzma would be a great fit and a reasonable value for the Nuggets, so could they make a play for the 28-year-old? If other teams are focused on larger targets, Kuzma could slip through the cracks and a team like the Nuggets could make a play.

The biggest issue is his contract; even though it’s a good value it’s still prohibitive for Denver unless they send MIchael Porter Jr. back, or work out some kind of sign-and-trade with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. That would be unlikely without a third team as there is no way KCP is going to the Wizards at this point in his career. But that could be one avenue to taking some of the sting away from KCP leaving this summer.

Trading MPJ for Kuzma is an interesting thought. The two players are pretty similar and Kuz is probably a better player overall who may just not be as good a shooter. His contract will soon be only half of Porter’s, which would also help the Nuggets add some other cheap players that could help around the margins.

The Nuggets should definitely consider a move like this if it’s on the table. They need to check around the league on the value of some of their players, but MPJ at just 25 could make sense for Washington and if Denver can get back Kuzma and another role player or two, that’s an intriguing possibility.