4. 3-point shooting
Kuzma showed his rookie season that he could be a reliable 3-point shooter as he shot 36.6% on 5.6 attempts per game, but he saw that number drop to 30.3% last season on six attempts per game. One factor holding that down was his inability to convert his corner 3-point shots and his above the break 3-point shots.
Shooting from the corner three, Kuzma logged 30-of-91 from those areas. That is good for 33% which was actually the best of his totals. His above the break 3-point shots were very bad as he was only 98-of-328, good for 29.9%. Both of these numbers are well below average in the NBA.
The silver lining is he has shown that he could knock those shots down his rookie season, as he shot 38% on 33-of-87 from the corners and 36.4% on above the break, going126-of-346. So the room for growth is there, and the possible dysfunction the Lakers endured last season amid trade rumors could’ve had a small factor in that.
But this season is fresh and just like Danny Green, Avery Bradley and Troy Daniels, Kuzma will have ample space to shoot with defenses drawn on Davis and James, so he will need to knock those shots down again.
The belief is that he will. He has been non-stop working this offseason. He has been watching the film and working on mechanics and building chemistry with James and Davis.
The Lakers will put him in the right spots so that he can catch and shoot and have that comfortable feel for his shot. Phil Handy developed Pascal Siakam into a future star and I believe he will do the same with Kuzma.