Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo returned from his calf injury on March 3, 2026. As a result, head coach Doc Rivers made major adjustments to his starting lineup rotation, including a shocking decision involving Kyle Kuzma.
Doc Rivers Shifted Kyle Kuzma Completely Out of the Rotation
The Bucks suffered an 81-108 blowout loss to the Boston Celtics on March 2. Rivers experimented with a different rotation to avoid a third straight loss, but it backfired. He sent Ryan Rollins to the bench and surprisingly started Ousmane Dieng at small forward next to Antetokounmpo and Myles Turner.
Kuzma, who started some games while the Bucks’ superstar recovered, played zero minutes.
Bucks beat reporter Eric Nehm confirmed that “Kuzma not playing tonight was a coach’s decision.” Rivers’ judgment resulted in the 30-year-old’s first DNP-CD of his nine-year career.
Kuzma has started 32 games this season, averaging 12.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 56 contests. This decision raised some eyebrows around the league last night, to say the least.
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Ti Windisch, host of the “GyroStep” Bucks podcast, commented on Kuzma’s night.
“Kuzma going from starter to DNP-CD (for the first time in his career!) makes no sense, but that’s par for the course this season… Conspiracy Ti wonders if it’s not a coincidence that Kuzma was the most vocal about Myles Turner not having enough of a role before Doc benched him,” he wrote.
Rivers’ strange rotation affected Turner as well. The center played only 19 minutes, his shortest outing of the season, scoring 5 points on 1-of-6 shooting. Backup center Jericho Sims logged 22 minutes for three points and six rebounds.
The Bucks signed Turner to a four-year, $108.9 million contract last summer, but he averages just 12.5 points- his lowest mark since the 2019-20 campaign. Milwaukee fan Nathan Marizon explained his frustrations after the game.
“$50M combined between Turner and Kuzma, and they combined for 19 minutes and 5 points tonight. Just a massive, massive disconnect between the coach and GM for that to happen.”
USA Today’s Elisha Twerski broke down why Rivers’ adjustments with Antetokounmpo back made little sense.
“[Rivers] sent his ascending young player (Rollins) to the bench … gave AJ Green his 4th-fewest mins of the season … DNP-CD Kuzma, who’s been solid … gave Gary Harris’ corpse 13 minutes,” said Twerski.
The content strategist thinks keeping Rivers for the remainder of the season will be “detrimental to the team’s future.”
Despite Antetokounmpo’s return, Milwaukee’s season outlook remains bleak. It sits as the No. 11 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 26-34 record. The Bucks are 3.5 games behind the Charlotte Hornets for the No. 10 seed.
Trade rumors surrounding Antetokounmpo are likely to resurface this summer, which could prompt the team to pivot toward a rebuild sooner.
