The newest Milwaukee Bucks star is regarded highly across the league — or, at least, by former Bucks point guard Patrick Beverley.

On the latest installment of his Barstool Sports show “The Pat Bev Podcast With Rone,” Beverley broke down his picks for the five third-option best players in the NBA.

Los Angeles Lakers point guard Austin Reaves, a former Beverley teammate for half of the team’s ill-fated 2022-23 season, came in as Beverley’s favorite third option.

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Kuzma, who was traded from the Washington Wizards to the Bucks for Khris Middleton despite questions about his long range shooting, was Beverley’s pick for the second-best third option. Kuzma plays a supplemental role next to nine-time Bucks All-Stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.

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Across 36 games this season overall, the 6-foot-9 Utah product is averaging 15.3 points on .420/.275/.618 shooting splits, 6.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists a night.

In his first four games for the Bucks, Kuzma has been averaging 16.3 points on .423/.222/.680 shooting splits, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 0.5 steals a night. That 22.2 percent 3-point rate is atrocioius, especially on a high-volume 4.5 triple tries a night. He’s a career 33.4 percent shooter from long range on 5.8 looks from deep, but he’s never made more than 36.6 percent of his treys — a rate he made as a rookie with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2017-18.

Bringing in Kuzma was always doomed to cramp the Bucks’ spacing, but he needs to elevate his contributions as a jump shooter while playing next to eight-time All-NBA Milwaukee power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. Kuzma and fellow athletic new addition Kevin Porter Jr. are both solid scorers in the open floor, and should be able to help improve the club’s fast break attacks and defense.

In some happy off-cort news, Kuzma just proposed to longtime girlfriend Winnie Harlow.

Losing former three-time All-Star Khris Middleton, a foundational piece of their 2021 championship core, is still a big blow to the team’s spacing, even if the 33-year-old was aging fast and had lost his edge defensively.

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