This is it for me. Kuzma's going to be taking a lot of Nance and Brewer's minutes at 3 and 4. I like Nance a lot but he still looks like the same old Nance to me - doesn't have a jumper and is limited in that department. Brewer's not a great shooter either. Kuzma is. Kuzma has a bit of that Scottie Pippen type of vibe to me. Obviously I'm not projecting on whether he ends up at that level of play, I'm just saying he does everything just like Scottie did. He's just an all around really, really good player. Sets good screens, high BBall IQ, knocks down the open jumpers from 2 or 3, gets out on the break and finishes athletically, and he also has some nice moves down low with the left or right hook shot. He plays hard on D, too. Love him. Steal of the draft for sure. Great pick.
Hey now I was there too tentatively and honking what I saw from his few highlight clips from Utah. How come Savory's not harassing you too over our man crush on Kuz? How about the back to back running right hand and left hand hook shots across the key last night within like 2 or 3 possesions?
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20891274/nba-lakers-another-rookie-watch-kuzma Lonzo Ball said he doesn't remember much about Kyle Kuzma in college. "In college, he wasn't that good, to be honest," Ball said dryly about one of his closest friends on the Los Angeles Lakers. "I don't even remember when we played him. But now I am happy he is on my team." Ball likely is busting on his teammate, whom he has become close with after forming an impressive chemistry with him this summer. Kuzma, though, certainly thinks Ball remembers him from when they faced each other in college when Ball's UCLA Bruins edged Kuzma's Utah Utes 83-82 in January in Utah. "I almost gave UCLA a triple-double that game, so I don't know about that," said Kuzma, who had 15 points, 11 rebounds and six assists and missed a contested 3 at the end of that loss. All joking aside, Kuzma has not only left an impression on Ball, but the Lakers, as well. The 6-foot-9 forward has looked like a potential steal in the draft for the Lakers, who picked him 27th overall with the first-rounder they acquired from the Brooklyn Nets in the D'Angelo Russell-Brook Lopez deal. While Ball garnered all the attention and won MVP honors at Las Vegas Summer League, Kuzma was a major surprise, as he averaged 21.9 points. 6.4 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, 1.1 steals and shot 48 percent from 3-point range. He quickly formed quite the tandem with Ball, who fired three-quarter-length passes downcourt often to a sprinting Kuzma for layups and dunks. But that was summer league. How would Kuzma and Ball do against NBA talent in the preseason? With all eyes on Ball on Saturday night against Minnesota, the point guard missed 7 of 9 shots but had five points, eight assists and seven rebounds and still impressed with his passing. Kuzma, though, picked up right where he left off in Vegas, scoring a team-high 19 points to go with five rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench. Andrew Bogut, who played at Utah before Kuzma did and knew of the young forward. "I don't think people realize. He had a really good game. He'll have his ups and downs. "His body is almost NBA-ready. Very long, very smart. Can finish with both hands. And he shoots the ball at a decent clip from 3. I think he's going to be one of the steals of the draft." Fans at the Honda Center roared, "Kuuuuz" whenever Kuzma shot. None of this seemed to surprise Lakers head coach Luke Walton. "I was more surprised in summer league," Walton said when asked about Kuzma's performance this summer and in the preseason thus far. "I have been around him long enough now that I am a believer in him. It's not just hot shooting and whatnot. He is a competitor, and he finds ways to get it done. Now, I don't think what he was doing [in the preseason opener] is what we are trying to count on every night. He made some spectacular plays. "But just the way he competes; he has a great feel for the game as far as when to cut. Like, he had a bunch of plays where he cut and did get the ball, but he made the whole defense collapse, and [Ivica Zubac] got a nice dunk on one of them, and I think Tyler [Ennis] got a jump shot on one of them. He has a good feel for playing the game and a knack for making plays." Kuzma provides the Lakers with a reserve who can shoot the 3, get inside and rebound and move well without the ball. That is where he might make more plays this season. His ability to run the floor and catch passes from Ball and finish was on full display in summer league. "Kuz has always been here, always working hard," Ball said. "Me and him have a good chemistry, but, you know, we started building that in Las Vegas. Now it's an all-time high." Kuzma was an All-Pac-12 first-team selection after averaging 16.4 points and 9.3 rebounds his junior year at Utah. He always thought he would be a first-round draft pick, and he knew the Lakers were very interested after the combine. "Yeah, for sure, that is why I left [Utah]," Kuzma said of his belief that he would go in the first round. "Before I left, [some draft analysts] had me pegged as second-round, undrafted type of guy, and I didn't believe that. I am a really confident person, and I believe in myself and always thought I would be a first-rounder because of my talent level." Kuzma is starting to show what he can do and perhaps force his way into Walton's rotation. With Lopez missing the preseason opener, Kuzma was a part of a second unit that included Ennis, Jordan Clarkson, Corey Brewer and Zubac. Veteran Luol Deng was also out Saturday. "Just confident," Kuzma said of why he has shined so far in the pros, more than he did at Utah. "In college, I wasn't able to do a lot of those things because of our system and coach, because of how he coached and structured it. But I'm playing carefree, so ... "The movement of the [Lakers] offense and the way Luke coaches allows us to do a lot of free things and freelance."
I don't have a problem with him coming off the bench and replacing the 18 Lou gave us last season. That made our bench the best in the league. Not saying he'll give us 18 average but I can see him avg around 14 if he gets the minutes Lou did. And play better D. How is this the same as Jules and Nance? Their game is different. If you mean Kuz won't get better without starting, what's the rush? Also, I don't know if I agree, Kuz seems to be a ridiculously fast learner. Look how fast he's been picking up the NBA game and Lonzo ball. Let's give the kid more than SL and 1 pre season game to make definitive judgements about what he needs. W'e've got 3 PF (4 if you want to make Lopez the stretch 4) so we can bide our time with him. If you mean he might blow up starting, no. Better off the bench this season. Defenses would key on him if he started shooting like Melo or something he'll get some success off the bench first. We need the bench scoring anyways.
IMO, Kuzma should be starting right after the trade deadline when we ship Randle out. Nance can't start. His shot is broken and won't get fixed. Kuzma is a scoring threat and will only get better. Why limit his minutes when we're not winning anything this year?
Yeah I primarily meant this first 1/2 season then see what Magic/Rob do. Kuz may get put on the 3 especially if they think LBJ is coming in in which case Nance can play too. Nance has been talking about his 3 so we'll see. If nobody follows you around your offense is a liability to the teams spacing. He needs to pull a big out so Kuz can dominate the smaller 3s if he's going to play there.
Kuzma is legit. Would like to see him get some more minutes with Ball. That's my dog. THAT'S MY DOG! (Smokey voice)
Ball needs shooters to really thrive, our summer league squad were all good shooters. Randle needs to come off the bench. Kuzma needs to start
Hes going to be really good. There is a problem though. He really doesn't have the physicality to defend PFs right now. He needs to play SF, and he can't if Ingram is taking the majority of minutes..
Loving Kuzma thus far. What's not to love? He's tearing it up. Yes it's only pre-season, but he's been our best player by a mile.
Best shooter on the team? With stones like his, the kid will keep shootin. Luke needs to set the Kuz looze. I still think he's best off the bench as our spark guy. The thing that he needs to keep playing hard for is not for the starting role...but to be 1 of the 5 when the game is on the line in the 4th.
I'd bet on Lopez being our best shooter. Kuzma will lead us in points per shot though. I'd say lead the team in scoring, but not with Randle and Clarkson shooting everytime they touch the ball.
If only randle had his iq, nance has iq ish but very little talent, dude has the worse perimiter gm by far out of our pf rotation, tb probably shoots better than nance
John: I think Magic nailed it...Brook is the key for this team. He's going to open it up for Zo, BI and Randle offensively. Sidebar: that last 9ers game, still hurts..which means the Lakers have to pick us up this year cause we got no lotto balls in the fight this year.
This guy has been unreal. There’s no way he can keep this up at this level as a rookie, but if he gives us even half of this in the regular season that’s crazy. Love how fast he gets his shot off, how confident he is with it right now, he’s a smart passer, cutter, guy looks like an absolute steal. If he keeps playing this way through preseason I don’t see how he isn’t the full time backup at the 3 or 4. If we’re ignoring seniority and salary like we should be, he might even deserve to start over Randle if he doesn’t already. Not going to happen, but I’m saying deserve here, and he’s earning his playing time.
