There are going to be a lot of eyes watching to see what the Los Angeles Lakers might do with Kyle Kuzma this offseason. He was trade bait during last season’s trade deadline but they never pulled off a deal. While he was able to stick around, his play didn’t improve very much.
He’s now about to enter the final year of his contract and it doesn’t appear the Lakers know exactly what to do with him. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the team uses him as a trade piece to land a third star. However, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported that Kuzma is expecting a big contract extension. Regardless, it’s unclear what might happen with him this offseason.
On Tuesday, Kuzma decided to post a rather odd tweet.
The tweet didn’t seem to be prompted by anything and didn’t appear to coincide with any big breaking news.
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Why Is Kuzma Laughing?
It’s impossible right now to know what Kuzma’s message is supposed to be about but that doesn’t mean that it’s not interesting. Some fans in the comments have suggested that Kuzma has received news that he’s been traded. That seems unlikely right now. The trade window hasn’t opened yet and the Lakers probably wouldn’t let Kuzma know that he’s going to get traded until something is finalized.
He could be laughing at the report that made the rounds on Monday that he’s expecting a “sizable” contract. That said, it would seem weird for him to laugh at that notion. Why wouldn’t he want a big payday? There’s also the fact that the NBA and NBAPA have agreed to start the season on December 22nd. The Lakers barely finished up the season so Kuzma can be laughing at the fact that he’s going to have to get back to work very soon after a limited offseason.
Kuzma is social media savvy so he could be having a bit of fun with the fans. If anything notable happened, it will likely be revealed soon but odds are that Kuzma isn’t referencing anything that the public isn’t already aware of.
Will Kuzma Be a Lakers This Season?
Though Kuzma’s tweet likely doesn’t mean much, it doesn’t mean he’s going to be a Lakers a month from now. He’s been involved in a number of trade rumors over the past year and his uneven performance in the playoffs doesn’t help his chances of staying in Los Angeles.
Kuzma struggled in his new role of coming off the bench and could be better with a new team where he can be a starter. He has plenty of talent and has shown that in the past. He also improved his defensive ability this past season. While his numbers took a dib this past season, potentially interested teams should like his potential. This NBA offseason is about to be very unorthodox so it wouldn’t be a surprise if teams tried to play it safe at first. Kuzma is likely to be a Laker to start the season but it’s fair to speculate whether or not he’ll still be on the team by the trade deadline.
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Lakers’ Kyle Kuzma Posts Cryptic Message Leading to Speculation