Los Angeles Lakers rookie forward Kyle Kuzma found his early season form against the Denver Nuggets.
The Los Angeles Lakers impressively came from behind to win against the Denver Nuggets Tuesday night. A few players had quality performances, including rookie Kyle Kuzma.
After having his production drop in January and February, Kuzma has rebounded (pun intended, with rebound averages increasing from 3.9 in January, to 8.7 in March, per ESPN). His strong performance in the win over Nuggets is evidence of his vast potential.
Despite his dip-off in production, due mostly to him being a rookie and navigating his first NBA season, he has silenced recent criticism that his hot start to the season was an anomaly.
As the season has gone on, Kuzma has developed his game at the request of head coach Luke Walton. Kuzma quickly became known in the league as a scorer. He was averaging 17.4 points at the beginning of January.
His offensive game is potent, but he seemingly lacked versatility, not having a strong overall game like other rookies in his draft class (e.g. Ben Simmons, Lonzo Ball, etc.).
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Walton criticized Kuzma’s “gun-slinger” mentality earlier on the season, asking Kuzma to become more of a play-maker. Walton had this to say…
"“We need his scoring and we need his gunslinger mentality. But with that comes some bad shots. So we show him all of his shots, and we talk about good ones versus bad ones.”"
Kuzma has shown growth following his coach’s critique. Over the Lakers recent success (19 wins in the past 28 games), Kuzma is rebounding at a much higher clip for the Lakers and being more engaged on defense. He had another strong performance against the Nuggets.
He scored 26 points, shooting 50 percent overall and 45.5 percent from deep, per ESPN. What’s also noticeable is that Kuzma took the most shots out of all Lakers players, with 20 attempts.
Fellow Laker Isaiah Thomas is known for being a high-volume shooter. Kuzma is quickly earning that reputation too. When the rookie feels like he’s getting hot, he begins looking for opportunities to shoot instantly. Watching Kuzma, you see that he slowly explores his offensive opportunities early in a game.
According to BasketballReference.com, Kuzma averages 13.1 shots a game. If Kuzma starts off making his first few shots, he looks to score each time he gets the ball in his hands. Walton frequently has Kuzma float around the floor and come off down-screens to get looks at quick threes. However, with this style of play, Kuzma often has nights where he shoots inefficiently.
Over the last 10 games, Kuzma has shot under 40 percent six times, even shooting 30.8 percent or worse on three occasions. His penchant to pull the trigger early can lead to some inefficient shooting on many nights.
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His play against the Nuggets is an example of his offensive prowess. If he can hone his ability to find high-percentage shots and develop more as a playmaker, he will become an increasingly valuable asset for the Lakers. Kyle Kuzma started off the season well and expect him to finish the season on a high note.