Recent reports are that Kyle Kuzma will be out for an extended period of time with a foot injury. Should the Los Angeles Lakers be concerned?
With training camp underway for the Los Angeles Lakers in a couple of days, the team did not have good news about their young star, Kyle Kuzma.
Kuzma was part of Team USA in the FIBA World Cup. However, he left the team early after dealing what was called an ankle injury at the time. Unfortunately, it seems that the Kuzma is dealing with a stress reaction in his foot, and will be missing multiple weeks of training camp.
The news about Kuzma is certainly not how the Lakers wanted to start training camp. Entering his third season with the team, Kuzma was poised for a big season with Los Angeles.
Getting the extra time this summer with Team USA was a great way for Kuzma to play against some of the best players in the world, and practice with legitimate NBA players. However, he will now be missing time with his team.
Now, we will have to wait and see how long Kuzma will be out for. The Lakers have already said that he will be missing the first three games of the preseason. With the second and third games of the preseason being in China, the Lakers will then have Kuzma have an MRI when they are back.
Considering how much injuries affected the team last season, this is not what they wanted before the season even started. The Lakers have built a roster that can compete for a championship this season, but you have to be healthy in order to do so.
Also, for new head coach Frank Vogel, not being able to use Kuzma will hamper his making of rotations to start the season. The injury will almost surely ensure that Kuzma comes off the bench now, but Vogel will have to try and piece together some lineups without arguably his third-best player and No.1 scoring option off the bench.
Kuzma is a still very young and hopefully he can heal up quickly. If the Lakers are going to achieve their goals this season, they will certainly need him healthy.