Final Thoughts about the young core:
Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka made an offer to Dell Demps that included Lonzo, Ingram, Kuzma, Hart, Zubac, and 2 first round picks while taking back Solomon Hill’s ugly contract all for Anthony Davis.
As everybody knows, Demps said no to the trade. Here’s the thing: Davis is going to leave the Pelicans and Dell has to trade him, but he wants to wait for the Celtics to get into the mix this summer because he thinks he has a shot at Tatum.
As of right now, Tatum isn’t better than Kuzma, and almost every stat backs me up on that. Perhaps in the future, Tatum will end up being slightly better than Kuz, but that’s a big “perhaps.”
Dell Demps thinks that he duped the Lakers, but by not taking all of the Lakers young core for a player that is definitely leaving, he might have had the worst trade deadline in the history of the NBA.
Here are Lonzo, Ingram, and Kuzma’s in-their-prime floors (this is the worst they can do).
Lonzo’s floor at age 26: 11 PPG, 7 APG, 6 RPG, and the 3rd best defensive PG in the league.
Ingram’s floor at age 26: 18 PPG, 3 APG, 5 RPG, and one of the best perimeter defenders in the league.
Kuzma’s floor at age 26: 22 PPG, 2 APG, 4 RPG, and an average defender.
Dell Demps is never going to get a better offer than the Lakers gave him last week. In my humble opinion, Demps and many people around the NBA have undervalued Ball, Ingram, and Kuzma and forgotten how young all three still are.
It seems like all the “experts” around the NBA have forgotten that it takes time for basketball players to develop into All-Stars. Lonzo, Ingram, and Kuzma aren’t setting the league on fire right now like Ben Simmons or Luka Doncic, and maybe none of the Lakers young core will become superstars, but they are all progressing.
At the least, Lonzo, Ingram, and Kuzma will be starting caliber players on a championship team in the next couple of years, but there’s still time for one or even two of them to become a top-15 player in the NBA.