Los Angeles Lakers: Kobe Bryant talks about Kyle Kuzma being untouchable

Kobe Bryant recently talked about why the Los Angeles Lakers might have decided to not trade Kyle Kuzma.

Over the summer, there was a ton of speculation about who the Los Angeles Lakers might be trading in order to get a second superstar.

Anthony Davis was clearly the man that they wanted to acquire going back to last season, but the Lakers knew the priced wouldn’t be cheap. Davis is one of the top players in the league, and getting a superstar in his prime was going to cost quite a bit.

Luckily for the Lakers, they fell into a Top-5 pick in the NBA Lottery in the early part of the summer. This gave them another valuable asset to try and acquire Davis.

The Lakers ended up packaging that pick along with a few others along with a good chunk of their young core to get Davis. While the Lakers did send Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, and Lonzo Ball to New Orleans, they did keep Kyle Kuzma.

Recently, Kobe Bryant spoke about why the Lakers might have kept Kuzma over one of the other young players. Here’s what he had to say on “The Cruz Show” with text via Silver Screen and Roll.

"“Probably his versatility. I think the game used to be about having specialists on the floor and think it’s gotten away from that to having guys that can play all facets of the game. That includes offensively and defensively, and defensively he has the potential to be a great defensive player, so I think that’s one things they looked at as well as his shooting ability and just his size. I think you put all that in the pot and it made him indispensable for this summer.”"

Kuzma has arguably been the best out of him, Lonzo, and Ingram so far. While Lonzo and Ingram might have higher ceilings, they have both been injury-prone so far in their careers.

As a fit next to LeBron James, Kuzma also fits much better than the other two with his ability to stretch the floor. While Kuzma did have a down season shooting the ball last season, he has the capabilities to be a good shooter from beyond the arc.

Now that Kuzma is paired with James and Davis, he is clearly the third option for the Lakers. As a guy that quietly almost averaged 20 points per game last season, Kuzma can definitely reach that number.

Time will tell if the Lakers made the right decision to hold on to Kuzma over Lonzo or Ingram, but the roster certainly looks good on paper now.