honestly, few teams go 10 deep in the playoffs. try to get the best 8-9 man rotation and get it healthy for the big show.
Yeah. But for us to win the title, I think we need to be 10 deep since that would mean we got Collison and Iggy. We need both of them, IMO. AD, Lebron, McGee, Dwight, Kuzma, Green, Bradley, Collison, Caruso, Iggy Those are our 10.
Every once in a while: 24 points in 19 minutes on 10-14 shooting. Most nights: 4 points on 2-8 shooting. Us: “Future superstar!” “Mamba mentality” Reality: Streaky chucker
What have I been saying? Kuzma once again, does nothing outside of shoot the ball. We've overrated him severely because of his attitude and confidence but it hasn't shown out there. If anyone told you that Kuzma would be playing like this before the season started, we'd be very upset with his lack of progression. For those saying not to give up on Kuzma, at what point do you say it might be time to trade him before you have to pay him? Because I'm not comfortable with the Lakers overpaying him eventually. I'm not hating on Kuz, just incredibly disappointed by what I have seen. There just doesn't seem to be any upside at this point. The odds he becomes a better rebounder, defender, playmaker, or more efficient scorer just isn't high. And yes, Carmelo Anthony has been playing better than Kuzma... I think Carmelo could have actually helped our bench when LeBron gets his rest. We're missing an offensive scorer who can get his own shot in the post or with a jumper. At the price Melo is getting paid, it would've been pretty good to have snagged him right about now.
Stop playing with Rondo. I've lost count this season where Rondo holds the ball instead of hitting Kuzma who is open. Dude needs more shots
the old "see i told you so" after a bad game. I'm not sure what year you're referencing or picking a couple outlier takes on Kuz, but I don't see people overrating Kuz at all. He is a scorer that can get hot. He was pretty bad on D, but he's been serviceable on that end this year. At the very least his defense has passed the eye test in terms of effort and not being our weakness. He is not an All Star and I don't expect him to ever be, but he can put up points in a hurry and is cheap. It's not even about not giving up on Kuzma, it's a reality that we would get pennies on the dollar in any trade for him right now. Add to the fact that he's getting paid under $2M and only $3.5M next year, there is no realistic Kuzma trade that makes this team better. And as some have already mentioned, Rondo is killing everyone. The last 2 years, Kuz was great on cutting and catching a pass for a floater/runner. I've seen Rondo NOT make the easy pass to Kuz for that play so many times. With Kuz we have a guy that is 100% trying to fit in and not be a chucking ball-stopper, which means he is counting on our guards to get him the ball in rhythm. There is absolutely no upside in a Kuz trade right now.
Rondo seems of course most interested in hitting AD and Lebron for the easy lobs and buckets and does ignore others, especially Kuz as he's so good in his attempts to keep moving and cutting. IMO.
This eventually leads players to stop cutting and stand around. When your PG refuses to make the easy play, guys stop moving.
is his shooting the only thing he adds? if so, that was a bad plan. he's a scorer more than a shooter (and has improved on the corner three). i think the role issue is huge and being downplayed both here and in the press. if kuz had a full green light on a lotto team, i think he'd be putting up 20.
You're proving my point. Kuzma being unable to do anything and us having to rely on others to get him a shot when he was expected to be our third man behind LeBron and AD is why he has been frustrating to watch. He simply provides nothing outside of shooting the ball. His defense has gotten better but let's stop pretending that he's an average defender. He's constantly beaten with a first-step, he's terrible at taking contact, and he's not particularly smart with team defense either. Speaking on not taking contact, Kuzma's lack of paint scoring is heavily attributed by his lack of WANTING to take contact. He simply doesn't attack the paint enough when his shot isn't falling. 85% of his shots are coming outside of the paint and he's often being guarded by smaller players where teams hide their worst defender on him. We can't rely on someone who can get hot. We need a consistent player who can help us consistently. When LeBron and AD lead us to 20+ leads, it's on Kuzma primarily to make sure those two get a rest and step it up. He simply hasn't. Blaming Rondo is the easiest thing to do but no one blames Rondo for KCP, Caruso, Dwight, and others playing well, do they? They attribute that to their own individual talent. Kuzma isn't getting away that easily from blame. He's been bad, period. He's underperforming and though his value per production is still great, it's not how we should judge how our roster should be. This isn't moneyball. It's time to win a title and I don't see Kuzma being a third option player for us and currently, he's looked awful. Again, please remind me what he does at an average level. His scoring has been below average and thus far, his three point shooting has improved compared to last season but his best three point shooting season was actually his rookie season. No improvement at all. He's still got value and teams likely see a scenario where they can re-sign him for cheap and with more opportunities, he can be a worthy investment but if we can grab a player who is more consistent and also free up a 1-2 roster spots, it's a no-brainer.
Plenty of NBA players can drop 20 on a lottery team. The problem is that's why many of those lottery teams end up staying lottery teams because they get a player who can stuff the stats and then overpay them to continue stuffing the stats all the while, losing games. Andrew Wiggins, Parsons, Harrison Barnes, etc., players who can score but don't really offer anything else outside of that. Supposedly, Kuzma spent the summer working on playmaking and shooting (LethalShooter, cough cough), but where has the improvements been? Every time he brings the ball up, I'm expecting a turnover via overdribbling through defenders or a bad pass. Shooting the ball, well, he has improved compared to the previous season but his rookie season was the best he's shot the ball. Really, where is the improvement? I expected Kuzma to be a 20-22 point scorer who could take on a larger role because I bought into his IG posts but no one else has seen or can defend any of it. It's just not there. He's age 24 so this isn't some rookie still learning his way in. He's had enough competition on a professional and competitive level to have developed something in his game so far. Does he have a go-to move? Can you give him the ball and get instant offense? Can you rely on Kuzma to get a stop on defense? Heck, Kuzma is known as a scorer but he's below average on every spot outside of the paint. What scoring is he really providing? He's associated as being a scorer but he doesn't get to the FT line, he's not efficient, and the fact Rondo handles the ball more than Kuzma shows me that Frank doesn't trust Kuzma enough to generate the offense. It is what it is. Kuzma is solid value for $2 million. It was fun and nice to hope and expect better from him when we weren't legitimate title contenders. But when every roster spot counts and you have a player like Kuzma who had high expectations play completely doo-doo, it's only fair he gets called out. KCP played bad and people were calling for his head. Kuzma plays bad and people here are defending him like he's a baby. And this is coming from someone who was most excited about Kuzma than any other Lakers player this season. I've just seen enough to say it's not working.
Okay pretend you’re a GM. Now as that GM, read your post. Then, tell me what 3rd star type player you’d like to offer the Lakers for Kuz. Ain’t happening. I said in a different thread, there is little reason to believe we’d win any Kuz deal. His contract alone makes that almost impossible because 3rd stars arent often playing on $2M contracts. I would do a Kuz for Bogdan deal. I never believed that the Kings would consider that and the more info that comes out, I’m not sure if they really are. why would we be trading Kuz when his value is at its lowest? And even with him being on or off, we’re still 29-7 and he’s not really posing a problem. I’d rather focus on how a simple regression to the mean gives hope that he’ll improve the rest of the season. And with that improvement if he ends up netting us someone like Bogdan or better, then I’m cool with that.
