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Los Angeles Lakers: James Worthy praises skills of Kyle Kuzma

By Nick Ziegler

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 13: Kyle Kuzma #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates a shot against the Denver Nuggets as his teamate Julius Randle looks on on March 13, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.Ê (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 13: Kyle Kuzma #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates a shot against the Denver Nuggets as his teamate Julius Randle looks on on March 13, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.Ê (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images) /
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The Los Angeles Lakers have a special young player in Kyle Kuzma. Recently, Kuzma was praised by James Worthy.

The Los Angeles Lakers were able to get one of the best steals in the NBA Draft this past season when they selected Kyle Kuzma. Despite already having two first-round picks heading into the draft, the Lakers were able to secure one more when they made a big deal with the Brooklyn Nets.

In order to get rid of Timofey Mozgov’s contract, the Lakers had to part ways with D’Angelo Russell in the deal with the Nets. However, the return they received back was quite good. While Brook Lopez has been an All-Star caliber player in his career, the Lakers also received the 27th overall pick.

With that pick, the Lakers selected Kyle Kuzma from Utah. Even though he was a good player in college, he has exceeded all expectations in his rookie season. Recently, Laker great James Worthy commented about the type of talent that Kuzma is. Here’s what he had to say about the talented rookie.

"“Kuzma is the prototype. Kevin Durant is the prototype,” Worthy said at the Spectrum skills clinic. “There’s not even any bigs on the All-Star ballot anymore. “You don’t see centers unless they can guard the three or shoot the three. They’ve become almost obsolete. We have one that can hit the three, but you have to be able to go out and guard Durant or Draymond Green, so it’s made the game change a little bit. Kuzma fits right in. He can play two or three positions.”"

Worthy’s comments are certainly accurate about the NBA changing. In many games now, teams won’t even use a traditional center after the start. The term positionless basketball has become very popular, and have forwards that can do multiple things is very valuable.

Kuzma is one of the new styles of forwards that can not only play in the post but also shoot three-pointers effectively. On the offensive end, there isn’t much that Kuzma cant do, which is extremely impressive for a rookie.

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Even though Kuzma has had some struggles as the long season has gone on, he has shown that he is certainly going to be a big part of the future for the Lakers. With the ability to play multiple positions, he fits in well with what the Lakers and the rest of the NBA are trying to do. At just 22-years-old, Kuzma has a very bright future with the Lakers.

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