3 Washington Wizards who definitely won't be back next season

2) The Wizards need to trade Kyle Kuzma this offseason

There were whispers around the NBA trade deadline that the Wizards were open to trading Kyle Kuzma for the right price. That came as a bit of a surprise with Kuzma in the midst of his first year of the four-year, $90 million contract that he signed last offseason, but it does make sense that he's available.

Kuzma is having arguably the best season of his career, averaging a career-high 22.2 points per game on 46.1/34.2/77.4 splits to go along with 6.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. That kind of production on a relatively affordable contract makes him an interesting offseason trade candidate.

Kuzma's $25.5 million salary for this season was tough for many contending teams to take on without giving up key pieces, but this offseason, when more teams have the flexibility to take on a bigger contract, could give Washington a first-round pick or two in exchange for the 28-year-old forward.

It might hurt for Wizards fans, but Kuzma likely won't be part of the solution the next time Washington puts together a winning team. With that in mind, trading him for assets that can help them win down the line while his value is high makes a lot of sense. A lot of teams will have interest in a forward who continues to improve and who happens to have played a big role on a team that won a championship as Kuzma was a key part of the Lakers rotation in 2020.