Los Angeles Lakers: 3 main takeaways from scrimmage vs. Mavericks

3. Kyle Kuzma was not dominating like he supposedly was in practice

Again, this is just the first of three scrimmages before eight seeding games before the NBA Playoffs start before the Western Conference Finals, where the games really start to matter. There is plenty of time for all of this to straighten itself out.

However, Kyle Kuzma was being hyped up in the Orlando bubble as he was supposedly dominating in practice, at least according to head coach Frank Vogel. Now, everyone has their good days and their bad days and this was just a bad day for Kuzma, but he was far from dominating.

Kuzma certainly showed some positive signs, such as his increased playmaking ability, or at least a heightened attempt to become more involved in the Lakers’ playmaking. However, for the most part, Kuzma left Laker fans with more to be desired.

First of all, Kuzma was not good on the defensive side of the basketball, really at all. Luka Doncic exposed Kuzma on the defensive end every time Kuzma was switched onto him, which is a really concerning thing for the playoffs.

Again, he has time to get back into the speed of things and improve, but it was not like he was an elite defender before. This will be a problem in a playoff series.

Kuzma was not very efficient in shooting the ball, either. He scored nine points on 4/13 shots with two turnovers and two fouls in 22 minutes played. He was good on the glass, however, finishing with seven boards that opened up second-chance points for the Lakers.

All in all, though, Kuzma did not play all that great. Markieff Morris is not yet with the team in the bubble but if Kuzma continues to play like this, Vogel very well could turn to Morris to have more playing time.

We have preached it here at Lake Show Life time and time again: Kyle Kuzma is not a great style fit alongside LeBron James. He needs to improve his shooting and his defense.