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Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma says he isn’t worried about trade rumors this season, which he believes can impact everyone except one NBA player.
According to Kuzma, that player isn’t him, or even Los Angeles Lakers veteran LeBron James or Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry.
“You see a lot of times when players get into trade talks, it affects their games. But it really doesn’t matter at the end of the day,” Kuzma said in a recent Q&A with The Athletic’s Josh Robbins. “One, it’s a business. Two, everybody in the NBA is tradable, except for (Victor Wembanyama).”
Kuzma has three years remaining on his contract and could be a trade candidate as the Wizards continue their rebuild this fall.
The odds of James or Curry getting moved this season are in comparison vanishingly small.
Even if the Lakers’ hopes of remaining a playoff contender didn’t hinge on building a supporting cast for James in his age-40 season, the Los Angeles star also has a no-trade clause on the two-year extension he signed this summer.
Curry may not have a clause of his own, but he signed an extension of his own this offseason slated to keep him with the Warriors through the 2026-27 campaign. The Golden State star recently told reporters that he signed the deal because his goal is “to be a Warrior for life.”
When Kuzma was thinking of non-tradable players, however, his mind went not to James or Curry but the reigning Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year runner-up, who led the NBA with 3.6 blocks per game while averaging 21.4 points and 10.6 rebounds per game in 2023-24.
With Wembanyama expected to develop his game even further and contend for DPOY in his second NBA season, there is no question the San Antonio Spurs plan to structure their rebuild around the 20-year-old phenom.
Kuzma meanwhile came close to a trade that would have ended his tenure with the Wizards after two and a half seasons last spring. Robbins reported in February that the Wizards had a potential trade in place with the Dallas Mavericks before Kuzma told the team he wanted to remain in D.C.
After averaging a career-high 22.2 points last season, Kuzma would have more value on a contender than a Wizards team in the early stages of a rebuild, and Washington has already shown they’re willing to listen to offers for him. Unlike Wembanyama, Curry or James, there is a real chance he could be playing in a different city by the February 6 trade deadline.
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