Keeping Kuzma means Wizards aren’t starting over, even after subtracting Beal and Porzingis #Keeping #Kuzma #means #Wizards #arent #starting #subtracting #Beal #Porzingis

After dealing away two of their top players this offseason, the Washington Wizards are keeping the third.

And now their direction is a little less obvious.

Kyle Kuzma agreed to a $102 million, four-year deal with the Wizards, a person with knowledge of the negotiations confirmed to The Associated Press on Friday. The deal comes on the heels of trades in which Washington agreed to send Bradley Beal to Phoenix and Kristaps Porzingis to Boston.

Bilal Coulibaly arrives at Barclays Center before the NBA basketball draft, Thursday, June 22, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

The Washington Wizards moved up one spot in the NBA draft when they swapped lottery picks with the Indiana Pacers. Washington ended up with Bilal Coulibaly of France.

FILE - Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul moves the ball upcourt against the Los Angeles Clippers during the second half of Game 5 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series April 25, 2023, in Phoenix. Mat Ishbia’s five-month tenure as the new owner of the Suns has produced a whirlwind of change. Ishbia oversaw his latest big move Sunday, June 18, 2023, when the Suns put together the framework for a trade that would send 12-time All-Star Paul, Landry Shamet and other compensation to the Washington Wizards in exchange for three-time All-Star Bradley Beal. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

Chris Paul’s pursuit of an NBA championship is taking him to the Golden State Warriors, after they agreed to the framework of a trade on Thursday that will send Jordan Poole to the Washington Wizards, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

FILE - Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart, center, looks to pass past Washington Wizards center Kristaps Porzingis, left, and forward Rui Hachimura, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game Oct. 30, 2022, in Boston. A person with knowledge of the deal says the Wizards have agreed to trade Porzingis to the Celtics. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the agreement hadn’t been announced. The trade comes with Porzingis accepting his player option for next season. ESPN reports the deal also includes the Memphis Grizzlies who are acquiring Smart from Boston in exchange for first-round draft picks in 2023 and 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

Two people with knowledge of the deal say the Washington Wizards have agreed to trade center Kristaps Porzingis to the Boston Celtics as part of a three-team trade that also includes the Celtics trading Marcus Smart to the Memphis Grizzlies.

FILE - Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia looks on as players warm up before Game 5 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets, May 9, 2023, in Denver. Ishbia’s five-month tenure as the new owner of the Suns has produced a whirlwind of change. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

Mat Ishbia’s five-month tenure as the new owner of the Phoenix Suns has produced a whirlwind of change.

Kuzma opted out of a contract worth $13 million for next season, then received a much larger deal when free agency began Friday. He averaged 21.2 points per game in 2022-23, when Washington missed the playoffs for the second season in a row.

“DC let’s turn the city up,” Kuzma said on his Instagram page Friday night.

Most deals can’t be finalized until July 6, so it may be a little while before Washington’s front office comments on a series of moves that certainly reshaped the roster but ended up being something less than a complete teardown.

In the past couple weeks, the Wizards have agreed to the following:

— Trading Beal to the Suns, with Chris Paul and Landry Shamet coming to Washington, and then dealing Paul to Golden State in a deal bringing Jordan Poole to the Wizards.

— Trading Porzingis to Boston in a three-team deal in which the Wizards acquired Tyus Jones, Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala.

— Keeping Kuzma on a four-year deal.

— Trading Monte Morris to Detroit for a future second-round pick.

The Wizards haven’t advanced past the second round of the playoffs since 1979, one year after their only NBA title. They’ve had a handful of postseason appearances lately with the likes of John Wall, Russell Westbrook and Beal, but after back-to-back 35-win seasons, Washington brought in Michael Winger as its new team president, replacing general manager Tommy Sheppard.

Although there’s been plenty of mediocrity in Washington, the Wizards haven’t won fewer than 25 games in a full 82-game season since 2011. Consequently, they haven’t been picking all that close to the top of the draft. Washington traded up a spot this year to nab 18-year-old Bilal Coulibaly at No. 7 — a move that also seemed to indicate that the Wizards were focused on the long term.

But if shedding Beal and Porzingis looked like the start of a complete rebuild, keeping Kuzma — and even taking Poole, who is about to begin a four-year, $128 million deal — sends a mixed message.

To be fair, it also means Washington’s potential rotation next season deserves a second look. A starting five of Jones, Poole, Kuzma, Deni Avdija and Daniel Gafford could be entertaining if nothing else — and the Wizards also have Corey Kispert, who shot 42% from 3-point range last season. There’s some upside now, at least on the offensive end.

If all that means is another 35-win season, it’s debatable whether Washington has made any real progress, but the 27-year-old Kuzma certainly earned his big contract, and perhaps Poole can take advantage of a fresh start after a rough postseason with the Warriors. There are surely more moves to come as Winger and his front office try to mold the roster to their liking.

The Wizards have already made plenty of changes, but they aren’t quite starting over.