This just sucks. This is the only part of the expectations, or hopes, for the season that is not working out. I thought playing for USA Basketball would be a benefit for him this summer, but it seems to have been a mistake. Physically injured and no Mamba mentality. I don’t think we can win it all without him becoming an effective, consistent weapon.
in some ways, this is encouraging--he looked pretty good for a stint until he hurt that ankle, then meh again. let's see how he looks when he gets back to full strength. i saw him in the summer, and i saw him last year. he didn't forget how to ball.
If you check Kuzma's PER36 numbers, they're not that far off from his 1st and 2nd seasons. The issue is the Lakers play a game of sharing the ball or having LeBron run the offense along with AD and when that happens, Kuzma being the 2nd option for us last season won't work. He either has to accept that new role of being more of a defender and spot-up shooter or this awkward fit will lead to him playing fewer minutes and possibly being traded during the offseason. There's still plenty of time for him to rest up and get healthy but I still have faith he will become our third best player eventually and when that happens, we will be unstoppable.
I was never one of Kuzma's biggest fans around here and didn't also ever see the star potential so many did. But we have to be more patient with him, I have big confidence in him becoming that steady third option on offense. There are reasons for his struggles and IMO he just needs more time. He should get there by ASB.
watch: we'll trade him for someone who fits better but is older. he'll return to putting up numbers (on basically the same efficiency) somewhere else and losing a lot, and we'll endlessly hear about how much better we'd been if we were just patient.
I appreciate what Kuzma brings to the table, but I can't help feeling that without a high usage rate, he won't be able to fulfil his offensive potential. And as currently constructed Lebron, AD and Rondo are all going to have a higher usage than him come the playoffs. Someone in the game time section asked if we'd trade Kuzma and a package for Covington. I'd do that everyday of the week. We are weakest on the wings, especially wing D and I think adding Covington would go a long way against matching up with the likes of the Clippers, Houston, Bucks and C Bags - who all have strong swingmen. Especially the Clippers. Covington is a good man defender, but where his real strengths lie is; he may just be the best off the ball defender in the league. Per 100 possessions he averages 3.1 steals and 2 blocks - the only other players in history to average that over a season is Jordan (x2 seasons), Olajuwon x1, Robinson x1 and Gerald Wallace x1. At the time he got injured last season, he was second in deflections, first in steals, 16th in blocks, first in Impact Plus-Minus, second in DRPM and had a 97 individual defensive rating. I can just imagine come the WCF, Lou with the ball in his hand, running a pick and roll with Harrell or Kawhi and PG playing off ball. We'll have Bradley on Lou, AD on Harrell and Covington on Kawhi. Covington will blow up a lot of those plays with his roaming team defence. It'll allow us to rest Lebron by playing Green, Covington and Bradley on PG, Kawhi and Lou. I find this more valuable than Kuzma's scoring currently.
This is one of the most well thought out posts i have ever come across. I agree with every single point 110%. I personally don’t see it with kuzma. I understand he has been gone majority of the season with his injuries, but he exceeded expectations as a late first rd draft pick. Outside of his scoring (which isn’t even consistent), and his non-existent defense... i really cannot find a ton of good reasons to keep him over the likes of another wing/premier perimeter defender. I hope Rob is well aware of our needs at this point.
When the heck is Kuz coming back? Didn't he say that he hopes to return at some point during this road trip? There's only 2 games left...so he's either returning vs Indy or MIL?
Man i kinda feel for Kuz - there was SO much hype around him from his camp and from the Lakers themselves...and he has come up so flat that he might actually get traded for a guy like Bogdonavic or Covington. Really crazy how things can change so quickly..
Don't know about Covington. Seems we have plenty of good defenders but unless your a guy like Iggy who bring plenty to the table on offense, the Lakers could really use some more scoring punch This ATL get was a great example of a game that could have been a blowout with a guy who could just make shots. You see the lineups just look off now as they have to go small a lot
Great point. Other than bigger/premier wing defender, a ball handler/shot creator is an ABSOLUTE MUST. Rob better be working the phones before the deadline. Another creator would only be beneficial come playoff time when everything slows down.
I want to believe Kuzma will find his way into a groove, but I'm starting to doubt it. This team is winning without him, and loom worse when hes on the floor. A better fit might be in order.
I don't get how we could acquire Covington. Wouldn't you have to give up something like Danny Green or KCP plus Kuzma to get him? Not sure that would even be enough as he was the centerpiece of the Butler trade. If someone already explained this, then sorry as I only read this page.
Thank you for the kind words. I think Kuzma appeals in a few ways; he is someone we drafted which holds some sentimental value, he is a scorer which is the more exciting style of play compared to a 3&D wing and he has trained with Kobe & gotten his tick of approval that lends itself to hope that he can develop towards that direction. But we don’t have the usage, role or time frame to let him develop. And because he isn’t performing, it’s showing us that we probably don’t need him as the scorer off the bench. But to me we clearly need another perimeter wing who plays hard defence. The hope was Iggy, and he maybe has another good playoff run in him, but Memphis isn’t letting him go easy. Covington might be pie in the sky, but maybe we can facilitate a trade with a 3rd party to help them unload Wiggins. I’d trade Kuzma, Cook and a 2nd. Maybe even a 1st.
