2. Kyle Kuzma’s solid first three games for the Los Angeles Lakers
Kyle Kuzma was pretty solid in his first three preseason games for the Los Angeles Lakers. Then the fourth game happened on Friday night against the Phoenix Suns and Kuzma deflated some of that hype that he was getting from the first three games.
Kuzma went out and scored just four points in 27 minutes and was a non-factor. He was not that great on either end in Friday’s game but he still showed enough promising signs in the first three games to get excited about.
Kuzma averaged 22 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists in the first three preseason games. Perhaps he upped his level of play because of how well THT was playing, hopefully, he is finally taking that next step to be a legitimate threat for this Lakers team.
Kuzma has a lot of potential to be an off-ball threat on the Los Angeles Lakers, especially if they utilize his athleticism and size on the perimeter, using off-ball screens and movements to give him catch and shoot opportunities.
With Dennis Schroder and Montrezl Harrell on the bench, Kuzma is not going to need to handle the basketball as much and can focus more on his off-ball game and being that bench wing the Lakers need him to be.