The Lakers are heading out on a three-game road trip beginning Friday in Dallas and for the first time this season, they should have a key cog with them: forward Kyle Kuzma, who has been out since the summer with an injury.
Coach Frank Vogel said that the plan was to have Kuzma practice with the team’s G-League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers, on Thursday then have him reassigned to the Lakers immediately after. Kuzma has been dealing with a stress reaction in his left ankle.
Kyle Kuzma (stress reaction, left ankle) has been assigned to the South Bay Lakers in order to practice with them today.
He will rejoin the LA Lakers later today and travel with the team for the upcoming three-game trip to Dallas, San Antonio and Chicago.
The Lakers are 3-1 but could use some added offensive firepower. They’ve scored 120 points in each of their past two games but did so against lightweights Charlotte and Memphis. Against tougher defenses in the first two games—the Clippers and the Jazz, the Lakers scored only 196 total points and shot only 41.5 percent from the field.
Center Anthony Davis broke out of an early slump with 29 points against Charlotte on Sunday and 40 against Memphis on Tuesday. They’ll face a trio of teams on the upcoming trip with mediocre early defensive ratings—Chicago is ranked 18th, San Antonio is 19th and Dallas is 23rd.
Kuzma Could Fix Some Major Lakers Problems
The return of Kuzma could go a long way to addressing a few concerns with the Lakers, starting with the offensive output. Kuzma averaged 18.7 points last year, though he struggled to shoot from the perimeter, making only 30.3 percent of his 3-pointers. But the Lakers need a reliable third option and Kuzma is the best they’ve got on the roster.
His return should also help the Lakers’ woeful bench situation. The Lakers currently get 29.5 points per game out of their reserves, which is 24th in the NBA. The Lakers bench shoots 41.5 percent from the field, 29.4 percent from the 3-point line.
Kuzma likely will make his return by coming off the bench, but he may not stay there. Coach Frank Vogel has not decided on what his lineup will be when everyone is healthy, though a strong case could be made that the Lakers would be better off with Kuzma highlighting the second unit.
That’s especially true with the way that Danny Green, who likely would move to the bench if Kuzma started, has been shooting. Green has found plenty of open space playing alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and has made 50.0 percent of his 3-pointers, averaging 12.5 points per game.
“(Kuzma) could also be a starter for us, or he could be a sixth man candidate,” Vogel told reporters. “Once he gets to playing with these guys, we’ll see what kind of combinations look good together, and we’ll make that decision at that time. Kyle’s the kind of guy who can play with anybody. He’s going to be a major factor for us, a 30-minute per game type guy.”
He likely won’t be seeing 30-minute nights on this road trip. But his return will go a long way toward firming up the Lakers rotation.
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Kyle Kuzma Injury: Latest Update as Lakers Forward Looks to Return