Los Angeles Lakers: Rookies praise Kyle Kuzma for his shooting ability
By Nick Ziegler
Recently, NBA Rookies were polled about who they thought was the best shooter in the draft was. Did any rookie on the Los Angeles Lakers receive votes?
With three picks in the first round, the Los Angeles Lakers certainly made their impact on the NBA Draft. The Lakers were able to get their star in Lonzo Ball, but they also made two solid selections late in the first round.
Using the pick they received from the Brooklyn Nets, the Lakers used the 27th pick on Kyle Kuzma. Coming out of Utah, Kuzma was a very appealing prospect with his ability to stretch the floor as a power forward.
In his third season at Utah, Kuzma really emerged as a good player in Pac-12. He was able to average 16.4 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. Last season, Kuzma shot the ball over 50 percent from the field and shot 32.1 percent from three-point range.
As a power forward, shooting over 30 percent from 3-point range in college was pretty solid for Kuzma, and was certainly one of the reasons why the Lakers took him.
In a recent poll by NBA.com, rookies made their picks for who the best shooter in the class was. To no surprise, the top two players chosen were Luke Kennard of Duke and Malik Monk of Kentucky.
To the surprise of some, Kuzma received 5.4 percent of the vote that tied him with Tyler Lydon for fifth. As a forward, this is certainly impressive to see Kuzma on the list.
Despite being a decent shooter in college, Kuzma really shined in the Las Vegas Summer League. Not too many people were expecting him to be as good of a shooter as he showed there.
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For Kuzma, he will likely be starting the season behind both Julius Randle and Larry Nance in the rotation. However, Kuzma’s ability to stretch the floor from the power forward position could result in him seeing minutes to help with floor spacing. After a great showing in the Summer League, it will be interesting to see how productive Kuzma can be in his rookie season.