The Los Angeles Lakers entered the offseason with a young core comprised primarily of four players: Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and Kyle Kuzma. In negotiations to acquire Anthony Davis, however, the New Orleans Pelicans demanded three of them. Despite rumors suggesting that Kuzma was their top target, the Lakers held firm, keeping him and securing Davis by trading the others instead.
The idea of prioritizing Kuzma, if that is indeed what the Lakers did, was met with heavy skepticism. He is a volume scorer, something that the Lakers have less of a need for with Davis and LeBron James in tow. Ball’s elite defense and passing, Hart’s shooting and energy and Ingram’s absurd upside all seemed to make more sense with that duo. There were financial reasons for choosing Kuzma, but in terms of fit, his skillset seemed to make the least sense on this particular roster.
If he is going to force the fit, he is going to need to evolve as a player. Fortunately, as Kuzma told Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN, he is ready to do so. He is ready to take the next step towards stardom.
“I don’t feel no pressure, but I believe that I am capable of being that superstar,” Kuzma told ESPN. “I put a lot of work in. My progress through my journey shows that I can be there. I developed every single year, dating back to college, and I don’t see that development stunting at all.”
On a traditional team, Kuzma may already have earned the superstar moniker. He already scores and rebounds at a high level, and on his current developmental track, he would be expected to score over 20 points per game on a typical team.
But this isn’t a typical team. The Lakers already have all of the scoring and rebounding that they will ever need. That is not to say they won’t make use of Kuzma’s, but for him to be a superstar on this particular roster, they are going to need different things from him. Fortunately, Kuzma seems to be aware of that.
“Last year I didn’t shoot the ball well, and I still averaged almost 20 [points per game]. If I can shoot the ball well and keep developing the facets of my game defensively, I don’t see why I can’t [be that third star].”
Kuzma shot 36.6 percent from three-point range as a rookie, but that figure dipped to 30.3 percent last season. It is unclear at this stage which number is closer to what the Lakers can expect from him moving forward. In the minus column, he shot only 30.2 percent on three-pointers in college, and that came with a shorter line. His rookie numbers were also based mostly on a hot start. He made 41.6 percent of his attempts through Christmas but immediately fell to 30.2 percent—identical to his college numbers—through the end of January.
But Kuzma’s free throw percentage has improved every year since his freshman season at Utah, and he now makes over 75 percent of his shots at the line. Free throws tend to be predictive of future three-point performance for young players because they indicate good form. On that note, Kuzma has been working with a shooting coach this offseason, and given how many open shots Davis and James are likely to generate, he should have plenty of time next season to utilize stable shooting mechanics.
As far as his defense goes, that’s more of a question mark. The Lakers threw Kuzma into the deep end last season due to some unusual lineup construction. With Ingram often serving as the only wing capable of defending opposing guards and James resting on that end of the floor, Luke Walton often used Kuzma against the best opposing scorer at forward. He wasn’t great, but the Lakers rose as high as No. 6 in defensive rating last season. That was no accident. Under the right circumstances, he can be part of a very strong defense.
That is what the Lakers are hoping for this season. They have seen Kuzma carry an enormous scoring load on lottery teams. Now they are betting that on a contender, he can adjust his game to better suit their needs. That is what it will take for him to become their third superstar, and Kuzma seems up for the challenge.
