The Lakers and Kyle Kuzma are Starting to Find Common Ground
After a volatile start to his career, things are finally starting to feel more stable for Kyle Kuzma thanks to a more solidified role, and the art of making the extra pass.
Welcome to issue #25 of Throwdowns.
With the NBA season now officially underway, and some wild early results already popping up around the league, many teams and fans have begun trying to sort out what’s real or not amongst the static that is small sample size.
For the Lakers, there has not been anything too out of the ordinary when it comes to the growing pains of the new roster or even their slow start thus far.
Instead, it has been the encouraging — but still mixed — start of one of the team’s longest tenured players that has once again swept his name back into headlines. Which brings us to today’s edition.
Despite his online persona, photoshoots, and everything else that draws the ire of a large segment of the Lakers’ fanbase, when Kyle Kuzma answers a question he does so with little flare.
His responses are brief, cliched and drip with the experience that comes with being in the league for a few years. Sometimes his stoicism is interrupted when a teammate makes him laugh in the background of a media call. But, he is almost always quick to retreat back to his businesslike demeanor before another question is tossed his way.
Like a professional wrestler immediately returning to character or adjusting his mask when too much of reality begins to seep out.
Kuzma is older now. He does not possess the same wide-eyed character he once had, nor is he the same kid the Lakers drafted late in the first round in 2017. He’s 25, he has won a championship and he has signed his first non-rookie contract.
Lucratively, the 3-year deal worth $40 million dollars may be perceived as sub-market value to Kuzma, but what the extension represents beyond the dollar amount, is the team’s first vote of confidence in whom they still view as a long-term building block.
Even after his stellar rookie campaign, Kuzma has barely skidded by in Los Angeles amongst the major roster turnover in recent years.
He was the sole prospect not traded in the Anthony Davis blockbuster, he never was dealt last season or in the offseason despite countless trade rumors and there continues to be the lingering fact that his best/natural positions on the floor are currently occupied by Davis and LeBron James. But despite all of that, he has survived.
John McCoy - Getty Images | Throwdowns Illustration
The contract extension was a nice start to providing comfort to a player whose role on the team has been murky, to say the least.
But when the Lakers added three more weapons to an already star-studded squad in Dennis Schröder, Montrezl Harrell and Marc Gasol, Kuzma’s spot felt as unsure as ever before.
When he was asked directly on what his role would be heading into the year, Kuzma somberly shook his head and said: “I have no idea. We’ll see.”
As the season kicked off, and the expected ailments and load management games began popping up for the Lakers’ stars, Kuzma was given an opportunity.
With Davis out, Kuzma took his place in the starting lineup against the Timberwolves. He poured in 20 points (8/12 from the field), chipped in 3 rebounds, assists and blocks a piece, and was a game high +38 in the Lakers’ blowout win.
Prior to the contest, Vogel issued another olive branch of trust from the team to Kuzma when he declared that he would be the go-to replacement whenever James or Davis would need to miss a game.
As the numbers and film exemplified, Kuzma seized the opportunity and ran with it. He came out blistering hot from beyond the arc, zoomed off-ball on cuts and showed the strides he had made on defense over the year.
“He moves,” Gasol told Spectrum SportsNet following Kuzma’s outing. “He does a great job. He has great size. He doesn’t hesitate when he gets it. He has great confidence, and that’s all very positive.”
In many ways, Kuzma’s performance showcased not only the ability he still possesses when given ample opportunity, but the growth he has made as a player. It was one game, but all of the ingredients to what makes him pop were evident.
The off-ball movement like Gasol highlighted has always been an area of strength, but the non-scoring aspects of the game he has struggled to master since entering the league, have begun to become more frequent.
“Kuz has really become a hell of a player,” Frank Vogel said during a recent media call.
“Playing in the role that he played in last year, where there were games where he wasn’t really that involved in the offense and had to impact the game in other ways, I think in the long run is really, really, really going to help his game.
“So many young players, they come into this league, in different environments, and they’re asked to carry a big load offensively. And when you’re doing that, sometimes you shortcut some of the other parts of the game and Kuz has really worked on his defense, he’s really worked on his rebounding, his cutting, his running the floor and all those types of things.”
Vogel’s point on Kuzma having to adjust his game to fit within the team dynamic, specifically due to presence of James and Davis on the roster, is a valid one. Young players in particular learn poor habits when all that is asked of them is to score, or when molded within a lax environment.
The experience he gained from playing key rotation minutes on a championship team undoubtedly will pay dividends in the long run like his head coach referenced. And this season may finally be the one where it all finally begins to click.
"The game has just slowed down for him,” James said of the player he picked on social media as the individual who would make the biggest leap this year.
“His ability to score the ball, we all know about that, his shotmaking ability — guarded or unguarded — but what he has done this year so far is he’s starting to see that extra pass.”
“He's starting to see plays happen. You look at the pass he had to KCP in transition tonight, we see the dump-off he had to Trez for a dunk. He's just starting to make plays, and see plays, that he didn't see in his first couple of years and that's all part of growth. He is in year four, and the game is just slowing down tremendously for him. He's going out there and just playing the game."
The issue with Kuzma however, and this has been the case since he entered the league, continues to be consistently.
A lot of the aforementioned variables in terms of playing within a role that’s been in constant influx, adjusting to the stars around him or the sheer looming uncertainty of getting traded, are valid ones to point to in why his performances have been so mixed.
However, there is still is the underlying fact that he needs to do more individually with whatever is thrown his way.
The biggest example of this is the statistical, and visual contrast of his performances as a starter vs. coming off the bench.
When Davis returned to the starting lineup on Monday and thus prompting Kuzma back to his spot on the bench, the 25-year-old’s effort level and production waned dramatically.
The off-ball activity, the defense and the sheer enthusiasm Kuzma displayed a mere night before vanished.
Vogel chalked up the disparity in his play as a simple “usage thing.” Which is fair, in a sense.
A player does need the ball, attempts and more minutes to fill up the boxscore. And Kuzma specifically is a good case study in this as he has seen a steady decline in his minutes and usage in recent seasons. Most notably last year.
But, one could argue it is not so much how many shots or possessions Kuzma is receiving per game, but rather in what context.
Is he ripping through the defense via a cut that Gasol can pinpoint dimes to all game? Is he leveraging the open shots he can receive from playing next to James? Or is he roaming aimlessly within a unit where his role may be the same, but the exuberance and confidence that comes with being a starter is sapped?
These are not excuses for Kuzma. With the pro’s that come with playing on a championship caliber team and beside two of the league’s best players, also come the cons such as a diminished role or needing to come off the bench.
However, individually — and as a team — there could stand to be improvements. Giving Kuzma the seal of approval early on as the club’s designated starter when James and Davis are out was a good start. As was the contract extension.
But, within the duration of the year where Kuzma will be coming off the bench, there are tactical decisions that could be made to bolster his play.
For one, the team could stand to benefit from getting Kuzma as many minutes as possible next to Gasol. The duo have already flashed a wonderful two-man game stemming from the preseason, and within Kuzma’s big night against Minnesota.
The coaching staff could also do a better job of running more off-ball actions for Kuzma instead of him plopping in a corner. There have been encouraging signs of the team’s off-ball movement that have generated highly efficient looks, but that too has fluctuated.
Because of how polarizing of a player Kuzma is, fair or not, his production this year will continue to be a point of emphasis for the media and fans alike.
And while he and the team still have a ways to go in finally clicking all the pieces into place when it comes to his play, the early returns are promising.
Kuzma will very likely never be the sole star of the franchise he may have been projected to be when he was a rookie, but that’s okay. He doesn’t have to be on this current iteration of the Lakers.
The flashes of promise will be there all year, because that is how talented of a player Kuzma is, and why is he still a member of this organization when so many others in his position have drifted away.
What needs to come next is a form of common ground between what the team and he both want. And for the first time in years, it feels like we are finally inching closer to making it a reality.