NBA PM: The Impressive Arrival of Kyle Kuzma

The NBA preseason serves several purposes. It represents an opportunity for fringe basketball players to try to secure a final remaining roster spot, for new teammates to become more acquainted with each other on the court and for rookies to continue acclimating to the pace and physicality of NBA games. Occasionally, a player can burst through and show off skills and abilities previously unnoticed or recently developed.

The Los Angeles Lakers’ roster is deep with young talent and financial flexibility. This combination gives them multiple routes to continue improving. Fans and observers around the league have been focused on rookie guard Lonzo Ball, the most talked about rookie in years. However, anyone watching preseason basketball should have already noticed the other talented rookie wearing purple and gold.

Kyle Kuzma, selected with the 27th pick of the 2017 NBA Draft, has gotten off to an impressive start to his professional career. While the Lakers have been fairly miserable in their preseason games so far (1-3 record with an ugly win against the Sacramento Kings last night), Kuzma has been a revelation. The young forward has led the team in scoring in three of the four games and was edged out last night by third-year forward Julius Randle. Not bad for a late first round pick that many casual NBA fans are not familiar with.

Let’s take a quick look at how Kuzma ended up with the Lakers.

After keeping the second pick in this year’s draft, which was used to select Ball, the Lakers had to decide what to do with their prior number two pick from the 2015 draft — D’Angelo Russell. Russell had shown the ability to score in the clutch, make nifty passes and use shifty timing to do damage on the offensive end. Unfortunately, a number of factors (attitude, maturity, etc.) contributed to Russell being seen as an asset that could be dealt rather than a foundational piece to build around.

On June 20, 2017, the Lakers traded Russell and the burdensome contract of Timofey Mozgov to the Brooklyn Nets. In return, the Lakers received veteran center Brook Lopez and Kuzma. Lopez’s contributions on both ends of the court will be invaluable for a team looking for veteran leadership and reliable contributions. His contract is also expiring, which makes him a valuable trade piece as well. Kuzma, a trade throw in, has been one of the biggest surprise performers this preseason and represents long term value that many in Los Angeles and around the league had not anticipated.

Through four preseason games, Kuzma is averaging 19.5 points on 30 percent three-point shooting. Both of those averages dropped after a so-so showing yesterday against the Sacramento Kings (15 points on 6-12 shooting along with eight rebounds). Through the first three games, Kuzma had been shooting 35.7 percent from three-point range before going 1-6 against the Kings. With the ability to get to the basket, to score from all over the floor and great balance on a jump shot he gets off quickly, Kuzma is already shaping up to be a great shooter and scorer. At 6-foot-9, 220 pounds, long reach and athletiscism, Kuzma has the size to play either forward position.

Should we have predicted Kuzma would be this effective this soon? In his final year with the Utah Utes, Kuzma shot 32.1 percent from three-point range. However, Utah slotted him into a more traditional big man role, which likely diminished his ability to show off these abilities consistently. Kuzma also showed off an array of ball skills in this year’s Summer League. His poise and consistency so far has been the continuance of a trend and less likely a total fluke.

With versatility and scoring potential, Kuzma has the sort of talent and potential the Brooklyn Nets are looking for as they continue their own multi-year rebuild. While the Nets hope that a fresh start and better structure can bring out the most in Russell’s potential, the Lakers should receive credit for acquiring a talent like Kuzma in a deal where they also shed the albatross contract of Mozgov.

As a rookie, and yet another young role player on the roster, don’t expect Kuzma to always be an effective contributor or reliable defenders. The Lakers have been last or second to last ranked defense for three years in a row and while Kuzma has potential, he isn’t going to be able to address those shortcomings on his own. Adding Lopez should help but a slow big man with good instincts can only cover up so much. The most you can ask from Kuzma is to give good effort and learn quickly to be a consistent defender at the NBA level.

Assuming that Kuzma’s shooting and scoring is not a fluke and he can be relied upon to some extent, then the Lakers should make every effort to work to get him into the rotation. The Lakers are building towards becoming a championship caliber team and developing a player with Kuzma’s potential could be a significant step forward in achieving that goal. The Lakers will likely have significant cap space next season and will be in the market to add star players. With several young players developing into above average and star-level players, it’s imperative that players like Kuzma are given the opportunity to contribute and gain experience.

The question is where does Kuzma fit in best at this point? Right now, it’s reasonable to assume that Randle will start at power forward and Brandon Ingram will start at small forward. Forward Larry Nance Jr. is set to pick up minutes at the four as well. Veteran Luol Deng, who was very ineffective last season, will likely get minutes both at small forward and power forward as well. At this point, it looks like Kuzma will find minutes when other players are limited by injuries or when Luke Walton wants to add some more athleticism to his lineup.

Whether Kuzma earns consistent playing time immediately or at some point in the future, it’s already apparent that the Lakers found an exciting and talented player in its trade have a with Brooklyn. Lopez already represented significant value and the moving Mozgov’s salary was a key move in building the Lakers into a championship contender. Adding a player with Kuzma’s talent and potential is a bonus and is the sort of acquisition that the best teams tend to make on their respective paths back to contention.