The Fantasy Basketball Encyclopedia

Player Dossier · Milwaukee Bucks

Kyle Kuzma

Kyle Kuzma is a projected low-minute veteran starter whose fantasy outlook depends more on trade destination and efficiency than on Milwaukee's nominal depth-chart label.

Team: Milwaukee Bucks · Position: SF/PF · Age entering season: 31 · Experience: 9 seasons

Base projection

GP MPG PTS 3PM REB AST STL BLK FG% (FGA) FT% (FTA) TO
62 18 9.6 0.8 3.6 2.0 0.5 0.3 .470 (8.4) .730 (2.0) 1.3

Correction 2026-07-18: minutes and per-game line restated to match the rebuilt Milwaukee minute model. The prior team table spread 240 minutes across sixteen players, giving the top six only 146 and projecting every returning Buck below his own 2025-26 workload despite Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis vacating 53 minutes a night. This row moves from 20 to 18 MPG as part of that rebuild. Source: ESPN 2025-26 Milwaukee team stats.

Fantasy case

Kuzma averaged 13.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in 26.2 minutes across 69 games in 2025-26 while shooting .492. Giannis's departure creates frontcourt touches, but the rebuild also gives Milwaukee reasons to prioritize Kel'el Ware, Ousmane Dieng, Nate Ament, and Bogoljub Marković. Kuzma is therefore a classic trade-sensitive veteran rather than a stable mid-round asset.

Low case: 16-18 MPG, late-season shutdown, outside top 250. Base: 20 MPG and shallow-league streaming. High: a trade to a 27+ MPG role yields 15/6/3 and points-league usefulness. His points and rebounds help; poor FT%, low stocks, and moderate turnovers cap nine-cat value.

Confidence

Roster low-medium · Minutes low-medium · Rates medium-high · Availability medium.

Sources

Learning notes

Kuzma's 2026-27 fantasy value should be updated on transactions, not preseason starting-lineup headlines. A trade can be positive if it restores 27 minutes, even if it lowers usage.

Career record

Pre-NBA: Utah, three seasons (2014-17); as a junior in 2016-17 averaged 16.4 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 2.4 APG and made First-Team All-Pac-12. Draft: 2017, Round 1, Pick 27 (Brooklyn Nets), traded on draft night to the Lakers in the Brook Lopez–D'Angelo Russell deal.

Season Age Team GP MPG PTS REB AST STL BLK 3PM FG% FT% TO
2017-18 22 LAL 77 31.2 16.1 6.3 1.8 0.6 0.4 2.1 .450 .707 1.8
2018-19 23 LAL 70 33.1 18.7 5.5 2.5 0.6 0.4 1.8 .456 .752 1.9
2019-20 24 LAL 61 25.0 12.8 4.5 1.3 0.5 0.4 1.4 .436 .735 1.5
2020-21 25 LAL 68 28.7 12.9 6.1 1.9 0.5 0.6 2.0 .443 .691 1.7
2021-22 26 WAS 66 33.4 17.1 8.5 3.5 0.6 0.9 1.9 .452 .712 2.6
2022-23 27 WAS 64 35.0 21.2 7.2 3.7 0.6 0.5 2.5 .448 .730 3.0
2023-24 28 WAS 70 32.6 22.2 6.6 4.2 0.5 0.7 2.2 .463 .775 2.7
2024-25 29 WAS 32 27.7 15.2 5.8 2.5 0.6 0.2 1.4 .420 .602 2.3
2024-25 29 MIL 33 31.8 14.5 5.6 2.2 0.5 0.4 1.5 .455 .663 2.2
2025-26 30 MIL 69 26.2 13.0 4.5 2.7 0.7 0.4 1.2 .492 .726 1.7
Career — — 610 30.6 16.6 6.1 2.7 0.6 0.5 1.8 .453 .721 2.1

Durability: Genuinely durable: 61+ games in all nine seasons and 610 career games, with no major surgeries on record. The 2024-25 season totaled 65 games across the deadline trade from Washington to Milwaukee (the Khris Middleton deal). Trajectory: The arc is a clean rise and fade: All-Rookie First Team and a 2020 title role in Los Angeles, a 21-22 PPG featured peak in Washington (2022-24), then declining volume in Milwaukee even as his FG% hit a career-best .492 in a smaller 2025-26 role. The record says he is a scorer whose counting stats track minutes almost linearly, with FT% and turnovers as permanent nine-cat drags. In 2026-27 he competes for a nominal starting forward job on a rebuilding Bucks roster with every incentive to play its young frontcourt. He becomes fantasy-relevant again on a transaction: a trade or injury vacuum restoring 27+ minutes brings back a 15/6/3 points-league line. Career sources: ESPN career stats, Basketball-Reference, Wikipedia, Sports-Reference college stats.

Open questions