It's pretty obvious that Kyle Kuzma isn't an upgrade over John Collins

"Stop trying to make Kyle Kuzma happen, it's not going to happen". Boy, I wish more people would read and really feel that first sentence. Kyle Kuzma is one of the few players in the NBA who has really never achieved anything in his career but is touted as someone that every NBA team in the league would be lucky to have.

We uh...disagree. When the Utah Jazz took on the Washington Wizards on Thursday, the only thing that disappeared in this magic act was any belief that Kuzma was an upgrade for any real playoff team. Yes, he had 26 points, but he's the primary scorer on a seven-win team. We hear all the time why guys like Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic really aren't that good, and it's because of the "empty stat argument".

No, sir, these are empty stats. Kuzma is one giant empty stat. There are so many essays on why and how assists are the most overrated or useless stat, but folks, points are. At least individual points scored. When you're the "best player" and leading scorer on a team that has won just shy of 16% of their games, are you really able to call you're self the "best" at anything?

Look at the play between Kuzma and the Jazz's John Collins from Thursday's game. Collins dominated Kuzma. Kuzma couldn't stop Collins from scoring, who shot 23% above his season average against Kuzma. Collins also destroyed Kuzma in the rebounding game, pulling down 2.6 times the number of rebounds as Kuzma.

Yet, there are people who want Kuzma over Collins, and for that, I have to ask; why? I do want to see a more defensive-minded upgrade at the position, but that isn't Kuzma. And if you can't get someone who fits better with Walker Kessler and Lauri Markkanen, then don't make a trade at all. Collins isn't going anywhere, there's time to flip him for a better fit later on.

Kuzma is an overrated offensive player, who is soft on defense and can't fight for rebounds like you'd need him to do. He doesn't do a good job filling the lane or stopping guys attacking the rim and he's generally just not the kind of player you can build around.

Let's stop pretending that Kuzma can help a team because LeBron James once carried him to an NBA Championship.