Getty Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma.
Kyle Kuzma has heard his name being tossed around in Los Angeles Lakers trade rumors with people debating his value and the 25-year-old forward has simply had enough.
Kuzma seemingly responded to the noise on Twitter Monday, writing in a message: “Ight enough disrespect on my name. Y’all will be reminded.”
Kuzma deactivated his Twitter account late Monday night following the tweet.
Kyle Kuzma’s twitter account has been deactivated.
It’s not the first time Kuzma has responded the trade noise. Earlier in the week he issued a retweet featuring all crying laughing faces over the fact that some Lakers fans have been adamant about him being dealt.
Kuzma took on a different role during the championship season with the Lakers improved roster, coming off the bench as a key sixth man. He averaged 12.8 points and 4.5 rebounds coming off the bench, playing 25 minutes per game.
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That was down from the more than 30 minutes and nearly 19 points per game he averaged during the 2018-19 season, but Kuzma was playing on a championship-level team last season with Anthony Davis and LeBron James taking up the lion’s share of minutes at the forward position.
“It’s not about points. It’s about just trying to win,” Kuzma said during the year. “Obviously everybody’s got to sacrifice and that’s just for the betterment of the team. When I have scoring opportunities, I take them, attack them and if it doesn’t happen it doesn’t happen. It’s just the way with how our team is constructed and I just got to find a way, and find ways to contribute to winning basketball.”
Kyle Kuzma Has Been in Trade Rumors Before
Kuzma is growing familiar to being involved in the rumors. At the trade deadline last season he said that he found a different way to deal with his name and future being up for debate.
“I mean, just got to just not really worry about it,” Kuzma told reporters. “For me, I’ve been in trade rumors ever since I came here. I think that’s just a thing that happens when you’re a Laker. You’re always in trade rumors, especially in this time, so it doesn’t really matter at the end of the day. Just control what you can control.”
Kuzma has found himself in multiple rumors this offseason as one of the few key pieces the Lakers have left to trade. The latest had him as part of a package for Jrue Holiday to the Pelicans, but it didn’t pan out because New Orleans was not interested, per Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus.
“From what I understand, there was interest in Jrue Holiday on the Lakers’ side ahead of Dennis Schröder with a similar package, but with Kuzma in it as well. … So I know that, on some level, they’d be willing to move him. Like, if it was a significant upgrade,” Pinus said on the “Locked on Lakers” podcast.
Lakers Have Already Been Active on Trade Market
GettyNew Lakers guard Dennis Schroder.
The Lakers have already made one of the big splashes of the early trade dealings, reportedly sending veteran Danny Green and the No. 28 pick in this season’s draft to the Thunder for guard Dennis Schroder.
Schroder finished second last season in Sixth Man of the Year voting. He averaged 18.9 points a game and shot nearly 40 percent from beyond the arc.
The acquisition puts less pressure on the Lakers to fill the void that could be left behind from Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope declining player options. All three have generated interest from other teams.
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