Getty Kyle Kuzma of the U.S. Team looks on during the 2019 Mountain Dew ICE Rising Stars Challenge.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ young forward, Kyle Kuzma, has never been one to shy away from the media circus that surrounds the Lakers. Rather, Kuzma has embraced the Lakers’ chaos and has become a crucial part of the team’s future.
This offseason alone, Kuzma stole the show during the Anthony Davis trade by sending out a hilarious tweet and wore an incredible purple blazer (and ‘Hand of the King’ pin) to the NBA Draft lottery. The Lakers wound up leapfrogging to the fourth pick and hilariously, the increased value of the pick is likely what helped keep Kuzma from being shipped off alongside Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and Josh Hart.
Kyle Kuzma Sends Out Cryptic Tweets Ahead of Lakers’ Free Agency
Tweeting out a bunch of eyes and then retweeting his eyes with even MORE eyes, Kuzma seems to indicate that something big might be coming in the pipeline. After trading for Anthony Davis, there are a ton of holes that remain on the Lakers’ roster and a number of ways they can go about trying to address them. Regardless, free agency – which is less than two weeks away – is going to be a crucial stretch for the future of the franchise.
Recent reports have indicated that the Lakers are trying to free up some extra money in order to go out and land a max salary star in free agency. While they have enough to bring on a very solid complimentary piece currently, they can free up additional money by finding the contracts of Isaac Bonga, Moritz Wagner, Kyle Kuzma, or Jemerrio Jones a home.
Kyle Kuzma’s Role on the Lakers Next Season
Assuming Kuzma survives the offseason as a Laker and is suiting up next season, it should be fairly interesting to see how the Lakers plan to use him. While he will almost certainly see time on the court alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Davis tends to be at his best playing power forward with a true center on the court. This means that Kuzma will likely be seeing the bulk of his minutes coming off the bench as a versatile sixth man for the Lakers.
Expect Kuzma to be deployed in a similar manner to Lamar Odom after the Lakers had to integrate both Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum into the rotation in 2008. He should still see close to a starter’s workload in terms of minutes and should be expected to be used across both forward spots to help keep both James and Davis well-rested throughout the season.
A natural scorer, Kuzma should provide an instant kickstart to the offense when he checks in and could help carry the scoring load when the primary offense (read James and Davis) aren’t on the floor.