Kyle Kuzma will become a better version of Kevin Love
Some Lakers fans believe that next season Anthony Davis will end up becoming a floor-spacing big like Chris Bosh and Kevin Love before him.
There is no way that AD will be regulated to spot-up shooting duty from beyond the arc so that LeBron James can have space to work on offense. Instead “The Brow” will be used as a pick and roll partner with LeBron James, and also as a second initiator on offense like Dwayne Wade and then Kyrie Irving after him.
It’s easy to see that Anthony Davis will make a devastating pick-and-roll partner with LeBron James because he’s the most athletic big in the NBA. He’s a player who can knock down mid-range shots off of pick and pops and who can also attack the rim with ferocity on pick and rolls.
What most people don’t know is that Anthony Davis is also a good playmaker. Last season AD had an assist percentage just shy of 20, and he possesses a shooting guard’s skills in a centers body.
Kyle Kuzma will be the player who fills the role that Kevin Love perfected in Cleveland. Next season, Kyle Kuzma is going to be responsible for pulling one of the opposing teams big’s out of the lane and beyond the arc to create space for LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Kyle Kuzma already plays a similar style of basketball to Kevin Love when he was paired with LeBron and Irving in Cleveland.
Compare Kyle Kuzma’s stats from his first two seasons in the league to Kevin Love’s last two seasons playing with LeBron James.
- 2014-2015 season: 16.4 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 2.2 APG, 0.5 BPG, and .367 3P% off of 5.2 attempts per game
- 2015-2016 season: 16 PPG, 9.9 RPG, 2.4 APG, 0.5 BPG, and .360 3P% off of 5.7 attempts per game
- 2017-2018 season: 16.1 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.8 APG, 0.4 BPG, and .366 3P% off of 5.6 attempts per game
- 2018-2019 season: 18.7 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 2.5 APG, 0.4 BPG, and .303 3P% off of 6 attempts per game
Their numbers are almost identical, but there is one glaring difference; Kevin Love is a much better 3-point shooter than Kyle Kuzma.
Only days after the Lakers played their final game Kuz started to rectify his biggest weakness on offense last season by hiring one of the best shooting coaches around in “Lethal Shooter.” Kuzma’s been working all summer under his new instructor’s tutelage relearning how to shoot from distance and hoisting up thousands of shots per day.
The work Kyle Kuzma’s been putting in over the summer will pay huge dividends next year. During the 2019-2020 season, Kuz will leave his sophomore slump behind, and he’ll become an outstanding long distance shooter.
Even though Kevin Love is a five-time All-Star, Kuzma is a much better fit next to LeBron and AD than Love was during his time in Cleveland. Whenever Kevin shared the court with James and Irving, he was relegated to standing behind the arc and waiting for a pass.
Kuzma won’t just stand around waiting to hoist up 3-pointers, because he’s one of the best cutters in the league. Kuzma is a ball of energy on offense, always moving and looking for back door lanes to the rim. Next season he’ll be a considerable nuisance for opposing defenders because of his dual-threat ability to shoot quick-release three’s and to explode towards the rack off quick cuts.
Going beyond statistics, Kevin Love came to Cleveland with a giant ego, because he was one of the best players in the league during his time on the Minnesota Timberwolves. It was a challenging adjustment for Love to go from getting dozens of post touches per game as Minnesota’s number one option on offense to a player who was relegated to a catch shoot threat from beyond the arc as Cleveland’s third option behind James and Irving.
Kuzma won’t be running the court next season with an inflated self-image like Kevin Love. There will be no adjustment period needed for Kuz. He knows that his role next season will be to spread the floor for LeBron and Davis and that he’s the clear 3rd option for the Lakers.
Kyle Kuzma will be a better version of Kevin Love for the Lakers, which transforms the Purple and Gold from one of the handful of championship contenders in the NBA, into the favorite to win the title next season.