Los Angeles Lakers Jesse Buss talks Kyle Kuzma’s improvement in shooting
When the Los Angeles Lakers traded D’Angelo Russell to the Brooklyn Nets, many fans were disappointed. It was a cap clearing move for the Lakers, as they also shipped Timofey Mozgov to Brooklyn.
In return, the Lakers received Brook Lopez, who has an expiring contract, and the No. 27 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. The 27th overall pick rarely produces players that can help a team right away, but the Lakers look like they found a steal this year.
With the 27th overall pick, the Lakers selected Utah power forward, Kyle Kuzma. Kuzma was a standout in the Las Vegas Summer League along with No. 2 overall pick, Lonzo Ball. This year’s draft class could really help the Lakers turn their fortunes around on the court.
Los Angeles Lakers
Everyone was high on Ball coming into the draft; that is why he was the second overall pick behind Markelle Fultz. However, unearthing a gem like Kuzma, who many called a reach at the time, takes a lot of work. One of the people responsible for putting in that work is Jesse Buss.
Buss is the Lakers Director of Scouting and Assistant General Manager. Buss has been the Assistant GM since the 2014-15, so he also played a part in the selection of later draft picks such as Larry Nance Jr. and Ivica Zubac.
Earlier in the offseason, Buss shared the process that went into selecting Nance Jr. in the 2015 NBA Draft. Recently, he shared what the process was for selecting Kuzma with Mike Trudell of NBA.com.
One of the things that Buss discussed was Kuzma’s shooting form. Kuzma’s three-point shooting was an area of concern for many teams. Kuzma looked like he had the skill to be a stretch-4 in the NBA, but he did not show it consistently enough. Buss said it was something that the Lakers thought he was improving on, and was a big reason for them selecting him.
"When he came here to work out for us (at the Toyota Sports Center, before L.A. moved into the UCLA Health Training Center), it was more of the same. We were pretty confident in the way his stroke looked and how he was hitting shots at his workout that he was going to project to be a pretty good shooter. Hopefully he’s able to keep that up. It’s a crazy number to shoot 48 percent (in Vegas), but he’s a hard worker, a good kid and he embodies what we’re trying to build here culture wise. He’s an unselfish guy, he works well with others and is versatile on both ends of the court."
It is easy to say that after you watch a player light up the Las Vegas Summer League. Kuzma shot an impressive 48 percent from three-point land as Buss pointed out, and 51.4 percent overall. The three-point percentage is much better than what he shot at Utah, where he made only 30.4 percent from deep.
If Kuzma showed the same ability to knock down three-pointers in college as he did at Utah, there is no way he would have fell to the Lakers at No. 27. So, there had to be something that Buss and the Lakers liked when scouting him, right?
Buss shared what it was that drew the Lakers to Kuzma while the stats may not have painted a pretty picture.
"His mechanics. They were pretty solid. We were pretty confident from the coaching staff through the scouting staff that he should and could become a better shooter. He does have to put in the work, though. He didn’t show in three years at Utah that he was a knock-down shooter like he was in Vegas, so he definitely has to keep working at it and improve on the big stage. We just felt confident that he’d be a pretty good shooter."
Kuzma will not shoot 48 percent from three-point land come the regular season; expecting him to would be ludicrous. However, he did showcase enough during the Las Vegas Summer League to garner a rotation spot.
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His improvement from three-point land will only help his cause to get more playing time once the regular season rolls around in October.