Latest news with #Kuzma
Time of India
09-07-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
NBA Trade Rumors: Why Swapping Kyle Kuzma for $90 million Chicago Bulls Star Makes Sense for the Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee Bucks sent a "thank you" note to Damian Lillard. (Image via Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images) The Milwaukee Bucks have made a bold statement this offseason, reshaping their core in pursuit of a better roster balance. The signing of Myles Turner—a reliable rim protector and stretch big—was a significant step in that direction. But with Turner's arrival came a difficult sacrifice: the departure of Damian Lillard , waived after a devastating Achilles injury. Now, with Giannis Antetokounmpo still at the center of the franchise's championship hopes, Milwaukee faces another pressing dilemma—what to do with Kyle Kuzma, whose midseason arrival hasn't exactly solved their Khris Middleton-sized void. While Kuzma delivered serviceable numbers in his brief stint with the Bucks, the chemistry issues on both ends of the floor were hard to ignore. His fit alongside Giannis raised eyebrows, and with a sizable contract attached, the Bucks are now exploring potential moves that could better align with their evolving identity—starting with a potential swap involving the Chicago Bulls' Patrick Williams. Myles Turner In, Damian Lillard Out According to ESPN, Turner's arrival gives the Milwaukee Bucks a dependable rim protector and floor spacer, but it also forced the team to stretch out Lillard's $112.6 million contract over five years to make the numbers work. Lillard's exit, while unfortunate, was seen as a necessary sacrifice given his health and massive salary. Milwaukee Bucks' Major Offseason Moves Player Move Details Myles Turner Signed 4-year, $107 million deal from Indiana Damian Lillard Waived (Stretch Provision) $112.6 million spread over 5 years post-Achilles injury Kuzma Trade: The Khris Middleton Ripple Effect Kyle Kuzma (Image via Getty). The Milwaukee Bucks acquired Kuzma in a midseason three-team deal that sent Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Delon Wright, and draft picks elsewhere. Jericho Sims was also brought in from the Knicks. Though Kuzma produced decent numbers—14.5 points on 45.5% shooting and 5.6 rebounds over 33 games—his play style clashed with Milwaukee's core, particularly Giannis. Kyle Kuzma's Milwaukee Bucks Stats Stat Value Games Played 33 Points Per Game 14.5 FG Percentage 45.5% Rebounds Per Game 5.6 In contrast, Middleton had been the perfect complement to Giannis: a low-maintenance offensive option, dependable defender, and knockdown shooter. Kuzma couldn't fill those shoes, and his $22.5 million per year contract only adds to the urgency to move him. As Paolo Mariano of ClutchPoints noted, 'He wasn't a great fit alongside star Giannis Antetokounmpo .' The Trade That Makes Sense For The Bucks: Kuzma for Patrick Williams Milwaukee's front office could potentially fix the Middleton mistake by shipping Kuzma to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Patrick Williams, the fourth overall pick in 2020. Williams, just 23, has struggled to establish himself in Chicago, largely due to injuries. He's played only 276 games in five seasons and shot a rough 39.7% from the field last year. A change of scenery could be just what he needs. Why Patrick Williams Could Thrive in Milwaukee - Age & Upside: At 23, he still has untapped potential. - Versatility: Can play starter or sixth-man depending on Bobby Portis' role. - Defense: An upgrade over Kuzma, especially on-ball and in help coverage. - Scheme Fit: Could be deployed in small-ball or hybrid lineups by Doc Rivers. Williams might not bring the same scoring punch, but his defensive upside and ability to complement Giannis and Turner in the frontcourt could be invaluable. What Kuzma Brings to the Bulls Patrick Williams (Image via USA Today Sports) If the trade goes through, Chicago would receive a polished offensive player still in his prime. At 29, Kuzma is a proven shot-creator and capable rebounder. He could slot in behind Matas Buzelis or even serve as the Bulls' sixth man. How Kuzma Fits the Bulls' Rotation - Bench Scoring: Provides instant offense off the pine. - Versatility: Can punish mismatches and create his own shot. - Experience: Part of the Lakers' 2020 championship team. He wouldn't face the same pressure as in Milwaukee or Washington, allowing him to play freely and focus on what he does best—scoring. Bulls Offensive Snapshot (2024-25 Season) Metric Vaue Team Scoring Rank 6th in NBA Points Per Game 117.8 Adding Kuzma could either elevate their offensive ceiling or at least help maintain their top-10 status in scoring. A Win-Win Move? For Milwaukee, flipping Kuzma for a younger, more defensively-inclined player like Patrick Williams allows them to re-establish balance in the lineup and take a long-term view. For Chicago, Kuzma adds immediate scoring depth and playoff experience. Both teams get what they need: the Milwaukee Bucks get back to their defensive identity, and the Bulls get a weapon for a potential playoff push. Also read: NBA Trade Rumors: New York Knicks might pursue DPOY to bolster team around Karl-Anthony Towns and improve title odds In short, this proposed trade is more than just a fix—it's a strategic pivot that could benefit both franchises as they chase different versions of success in the upcoming season. Catch Manika Batra's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 3. Watch Here!
Euronews
08-07-2025
- Euronews
Majority of UNESCO World Heritage sites face severe water risk
Nearly 73 per cent of World Heritage sites are at high risk of water-related hazards, according to analysis by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and UNESCO. From the Taj Mahal to the Royal Monastery of Santa MarIa de Guadalupe, more than 1,100 inscribed sites were assessed for four types of water risk: drought, water stress, riverine flooding and coastal flooding. Using the WRI's Aqueduct platform, the sites were then categorised by severity, with some facing dual, overlapping issues. 'We found that 21 per cent of the sites faced both a water scarcity challenge, whether that was water stress or drought, as well as a flooding challenge, whether that was riverine and coastal,' Samantha Kuzma, Aqueduct Data Lead at the WRI, tells Euronews Culture. '[This] makes it really difficult to manage the water resources around [the sites] when they're dealing with both extremes.' These water risks are most prevalent in so-called hotspots, where changes to the water cycle, or an increase in human demand, can combine to create extreme environmental challenges. Within the European Union alone, 65 per cent of sites are facing at least one severe water risk, with hotspots predominantly in the Mediterranean - especially Spain and Greece. One notable example is the Acropolis of Athens, which has struggled with both flooding and extreme heat in recent years - the latter of which forced temporary closures last year. '[The Site] is suffering from a multitude of different environmental related challenges that are now starting to limit the ability of tourists visiting that Site,' says Kuzma. 'And if tourism is affected, then all of the economies that are supported by tourism around those sites are impacted, and the community that depends on that is impacted. So there are these real, tangible impacts that we can see when one of these sites is affected.' To combat this, the Acropolis implemented a new drainage system to prevent further flooding, which has so far proven successful. For other sites, however, solutions remain difficult due to a lack of resources and preparedness - but mostly cost. The Museum of Making, which is housed in a UNESCO inscribed Silk Mill in Derby, UK, reportedly spent six-figures on repairs following severe flood damage back in 2023. In their report, the WRI recommends nature-based solutions, such as revitalising wetlands to capture flood waters; enacting national conservation policies to protect against industrial developments; and an elevation of water's status as a global common good. 'I think to adequately protect not only these sites, but also the communities that surround them, we have to think bigger,' explains Kuzma. 'It's thinking about how we can work within these watersheds (an area of land where water drains into a water body like a river or lake) to enact solutions and have healthier, more resilient watersheds.' The 47th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee began in Paris on Sunday, during which representatives from 21 of the States Parties to the Convention will review reports on the conservation of its inscribed properties, along with new nominations. The global share of World Heritage sites exposed to high-to-extremely high levels of water hazards is expected to rise from 40 to 44 per cent by 2050, but Samantha hopes our human connection to these prestigious places will continue to drive collective solutions driven by ingenuity and passion. 'These sites really represent our connection to nature and to culture; they help us have that emotional connection to the areas around us,' she says. 'And if we can use that emotion and that connection to feel inspired, then I think that can help us push further towards scaling the types of solutions that we see.'
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kyle Kuzma Sends Hilarious Warning to Giannis Antetokounmpo Amid Bucks Exit Rumors
Kyle Kuzma Sends Hilarious Warning to Giannis Antetokounmpo Amid Bucks Exit Rumors originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Milwaukee Bucks fans do not want to see Giannis Antetokounmpo leave. The former back-to-back MVP has spent his entire career thus far with the same team that drafted him 12 years ago, and supporters are hoping that he remains loyal to the them despite seeing his name dragged into numerous trade rumors of late. Advertisement The same can be said about Antetokounmpo's Bucks teammates. Take for instance Kyle Kuzma, who himself joined Milwaukee last February as part of a mid-season trade deal with the Washington Wizards. Kuzma has not had the opportunity to be teammates with Antetokounmpo for very long, which is why the 6-foot-9 forward has made it clear that he wants Antetokounmpo to stay with the Bucks. Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo during the game against the Atlanta Hawks at Fiserv Hanisch-Imagn Images On Monday, Kuzma posted a video of himself on Instagram wherein he is seen training in Muay Thai. In his post, he sent a warning for Antetokounmpo about potentially jumping ship. "Me to @giannis_an34 if you leave next year," Kuzma wrote, adding a handful of laughing emojis. Kuzma is well aware of the trade buzz surrounding Antetokounmpo, and the former has come out to make his feelings about it abundantly clear. He obviously isn't serious about beating Antetokounmpo up with his Muay Thai skills should the latter decide to move on, but Kuzma has made it known that he wants his teammate to remain in Milwaukee. Advertisement For what it's worth, Antetokounmpo has responded to Kuzma's "threat." The nine-time All-Star reposted Kuzma's video in his own Instagram stories, adding a couple of laughing emojis to the same. Antetokounmpo, though, did not leave any clue as to what his intentions are this summer in terms of his future with the Bucks. Related: Fans React After Giannis Antetokounmpo Teases Potential Luka Doncic Team-Up This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 3, 2025, where it first appeared.
Otago Daily Times
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Film focuses on joy, fears of motherhood in dream job
Inspired by the ups and downs of motherhood, an acclaimed Wānaka skier tells her story of being pregnant while working as a mountain guide. Dear Superhero, directed by Jase Hancox and Corinna Halloran, is one of the many films set to premiere in the upcoming New Zealand Mountain Film Festival in Wānaka. The 17-minute film follows the story of Janina Kuzma, a Wānaka skier and mountain guide who competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics and was later named Central Otago Sportswoman of the Year for her achievements. Ms Kuzma found out she was pregnant in April last year, something that brought her joy as she had looked forward to starting a family. This joy was soon followed by fear as she was faced with the reality of telling co-workers the life-changing news and juggling motherhood and her dream job. As a contract mountain guide, she worked on skifields across the Southern Lakes region and even some in North America. The job can be seen as physically dangerous, and Ms Kuzma was anxious her co-workers would not think she could work during her pregnancy. "It can be a very male-dominated field," she said. "So I just hid my pregnancy as long as I could, just because of the fear of feeling like they thought I shouldn't be in the mountains guiding." For six months, no-one at work knew Ms Kuzma was pregnant. When she finally told her team, she was met with a wave of support and everyone had been really happy for her. She admitted that her feelings had come from a fear of being perceived differently in a physically demanding job. It was this lingering concern that encouraged her to reach out to her sponsors at North Face and suggest the film idea even before she got pregnant. Wānaka director Jase Hancox jumped on board but found it difficult at at first to direct the film on his own. As a father of two, he said he was unable to relate to Ms Kuzma's story and found it helpful to bring on American director Corinna Halloran. Ms Kuzma worked with the film directors and was also able to invite Canadian snowboarder and mother Leanne Pelosi and Swedish skier and doula Evelina Nilsson to be part of the film. The storyline focuses on the experiences of women in the snow sport industry as they work through raising families and not giving up on their life-long passions. "It's an exploration of the power and the complexity of motherhood and just what it takes while chasing my dreams in the mountains," Ms Kuzma said. She hoped the film spoke to all women, not just athletes, who might feel the pressures of raising a family and following their ambitions. The film is set to premier on Saturday, June 21, during the 2025 New Zealand Mountain Film and Book Festival in Wānaka.
New York Times
23-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Bucks' defensive breakdowns, slow starts have Doc Rivers mulling lineup changes
INDIANAPOLIS — After missing a shot at the rim on the opening possession of Game 2, Milwaukee Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma crashed to the floor. He picked himself up and sprinted back on defense, but he was too late. The Indiana Pacers were already two passes into their five-on-four transition possession. Kuzma managed to get back into the play and find a Pacer to cover, but as Kuzma backpedaled towards the lane, Tyrese Haliburton sprinted to the top of the key to receive the next pass. As Haliburton caught the ball, Kuzma attempted a closeout, but he was too late. Haliburton sprinted past Kuzma and toward the rim, where Giannis Antetokounmpo was waiting for Haliburton after leaving his assignment, Aaron Nesmith, in the right corner. Taurean Prince sprinted out to contest Nesmith's shot, but it was too late. Nesmith knocked down the catch-and-shoot look from the corner and the Pacers took the lead, one that they would hold onto for all 48 minutes on Tuesday in their 123-115 win to take a 2-0 lead in the first-round series. The opening sequence was a good example of what happened repeatedly to the Bucks to start Tuesday's game. Milwaukee was too late, and Indiana remained a step ahead. Advertisement 'We don't want to put ourselves in a hole early in the game,' Antetokounmpo said. 'I think we've done it in two games. We also did it in the third quarter. It's hard to play from behind. We just gotta be smarter the way we play, be more urgent when we start the game; hopefully we can be the one to set the tone and not them.' Not only have the Bucks put themselves in a hole at the start of each of the first two games of this series, but they've also done it at the start of all four halves. In the first and third quarters of Games 1 and 2, Doc Rivers has been the coach to call the first timeout, and the Bucks have been at a deficit in the preceding time period in each instance: • The Bucks trailed 16-8 on Tuesday when Rivers called a timeout with seven minutes, 59 seconds remaining in the first quarter. • The Pacers opened the second half on a 10-2 run before Rivers called a timeout with 9:30 left in the third quarter of Game 2. • The Bucks trailed 15-8 on Saturday when Rivers called a timeout with 7:50 remaining in the first quarter of Game 1. • The Pacers opened the second half with a 7-4 run before Rivers called a timeout with 8:41 left in the third quarter of Game 1. On Tuesday, the Bucks swapped out Ryan Rollins for nine-time All-Star Damian Lillard, who made his return to action after missing over a month with a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) blood clot in his right calf, but the starters struggled in much the same way they did on Saturday. In more than 17 minutes together on Saturday, Milwaukee's starting lineup was outscored by 15 points. On Tuesday, the starters were outscored by nine points in a little more than 16 minutes. Rivers told reporters he'll explore a change to avoid another poor start in Game 3. 'We've gotten off to two poor starts, and we've got to make an adjustment there, for sure,' Rivers said. 'We'll just see. We have time. We have 48 hours. I'm not gonna tell you what I'm doing right now because I don't know, but we'll figure it out, I'm very confident about this series. Very.' Advertisement While no one told him that only 28 teams that have gone down 0-2 in a best-of-seven playoff series in NBA history have rallied to win it, Rivers made a callback to a scene in Cleveland from November during his postgame news conference. After the Bucks dropped to 1-6 on the season with a 116-114 loss to the Cavaliers on Nov. 4, Rivers was informed that only 12 of the 150 teams that had ever started 1-6 made the playoffs that season. Similarly to how he confidently said the Bucks would come back in this series after Tuesday's loss in Indianapolis, Rivers told reporters in Cleveland that night that his team would make the playoffs. If the Bucks are going to turn Rivers' confidence into a comeback in this series, something they haven't pulled off since they went down 2-0 to start the 2021 NBA Finals, they are going to need to improve significantly on defense. After two games, Milwaukee is sporting a 121.8 defensive rating, and plays like its first defensive possession of the game have been commonplace all series long. Look at the Bucks' second defensive possession of the game: With only one action, Haliburton broke down Milwaukee's defense and created an advantage for Pascal Siakam by forcing a late switch and late recovery. 'We just gotta contain the ball better,' Antetokounmpo said. 'I feel like they're taking us a lot off the dribble.' Everything starts with not getting beat off the dribble. But if Indiana creates an advantage off the bounce, Milwaukee has to do a better job of recovering with discipline. A breakdown cannot turn into a five-alarm fire with players running from all over the floor to put it out. Instead, the right players have to help from the right positions to maintain the integrity of the Bucks' defense. Advertisement 'I think our biggest thing is getting off to a good start,' said Bobby Portis, who had 28 points and 12 rebounds. 'We get off to a good start, we wouldn't even be talking about an offensive rebound. We follow the game plan and not give up strong-side corner for two 3s to start the first two minutes of the game, we wouldn't be talking offensive rebounds. That's six points right there we gave up for no reason helping strong side corner.' To get a better understanding of what Portis was referencing, let's take a closer look at the third defensive possession of the game: The Bucks switched five different actions to start this possession before Brook Lopez ended up on Haliburton. Eventually, Lopez gets beat off the dribble by Haliburton, but Portis' comment about not helping out of the strong-side corner means Antetokounmpo should not have helped at all and instead left Lopez on that island with Haliburton. The Pacers' All-Star point guard would have likely scored on that possession as he had gotten past Lopez, but the play brings about an interesting question that the Bucks have seemingly been unable to answer thus far: Is it better to give up a Haliburton look inside the paint or a catch-and-shoot 3 elsewhere on the floor? Whatever the Bucks decide, they will have to consistently execute their answer, because not consistently executing a game plan will create even more questions for the players on the court and even more defensive confusion. 'Communicate better, communicate early, so we know where the pick-and-roll, where the screen's coming from,' Antetokounmpo said. 'And help defense gotta be early. And what I mean, early, you gotta be in position early. You cannot see the play happening and then run in, because when you run in, you kinda commit late, and then they swing the ball for an open 3. And then you're playing on your heels. 'When they swing the ball for an open 3, they either can shoot it, drive it, they can swing to the corner two against one, and now we're just in scramble mode a lot. This team is like a really good team in making you play in scramble mode. They know how to drive a kick. They know to get in the paint and find the open man.' Advertisement Despite their poor starts to both halves, the Bucks managed to get back into the game. Antetokounmpo was dominant with 34 points, 18 rebounds and seven assists, and Portis hit big shots throughout the fourth quarter to chip away at Indiana's lead. The Bucks also found a switch-heavy defensive strategy that worked, as they held the Pacers to only 24 points in the fourth quarter. With a 3-pointer from 31 feet by Lillard, who put up 14 points and seven assists in 37 minutes in his first game in over a month, Milwaukee cut the deficit to two with 2:33 remaining. But then came one last back-breaking defensive breakdown: As the Bucks switched assignments for the first 20 seconds of the possession, they got caught looking at Andrew Nembhard driving to the rim and lost track of Siakam, who made them pay with a catch-and-shoot 3 from the right wing to effectively close the game. 'We didn't contain the ball much at all tonight,' Rivers said. 'They believe they have guys that can beat our guys off the dribble, so we have to do a better job.' If they cannot, their summer vacation will start a lot earlier than anyone would like. (Photo of Andrew Nembhard shooting over Giannis Antetokounmpo: Trevor Ruszkowski / Imagn Images)
