Los Angeles Lakers: 3 players who have struggled without LeBron James
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers have played nine games without LeBron James, who suffered a high ankle sprain on March 20 against the Atlanta Hawks. Counting the game that LeBron got hurt, the Lakers are 4-6 without LeBron James.
Some players have stepped up and some players have played poorly. There is a sizeable hole without LeBron and Anthony Davis that simply won’t be filled, but this was a chance for certain players to really take the reins.
That has not happened for these three players.
Los Angeles Lakers who have struggled without LeBron James:
1. Kyle Kuzma
Kyle Kuzma was the main player that everyone was circling when LeBron James got hurt. He was wrongly tagged as the third-best player on the team last season and after a disappointing year, started really promising this season in a lesser role.
This provided an opportunity for Kuzma to really blossom as the main scorer. He has not done that whatsoever. He has scored the third-most points for the Lakers in this nine-game stretch but it has come via some really inefficient shooting.
Kuzma has attempted 136 shots the last nine games, which is by far the most on the team. Dennis Schroder is second with 114 shots. An absurd 74 of those 136 shots are the three-point variety. Kuzma is averaging 2.7 more three-point attempts per game in this stretch than Trae Young averages per game.
Kuzma is shooting just 39% from the field and 28.4% from beyond the arc. Poor shooting and 27 turnovers as a non-guard are just silly. If these nine games are anything, it is proof that the notion that Kuzma would be much better on a bad team with a bigger role is just wrong.