3. There is way too much talent in the NBA
The NBA is more talented than it has ever been. Yes, the greatest of all time played in the 90s and there have been legendary superstars in every decade. But from top to bottom with the number of players who can carry a championship team and all the stars in between, the league has never been more talented.
That makes it much harder for a player like Kuzma to make that jump into all-star status. Has it happened to former Lakers? Yes. Julius Randle made that jump this season as he was legitimately great. However, Randle showed far more signs of being capable of doing that in his past than Kuzma has.
Plus, Randle came into the league much younger with a much higher ceiling than Kuzma. Kuzma is already entering his age 26 season, which is how old Randle was this season. If Kuzma is going to make that jump he has to make it soon and I just don’t see him getting much better overnight.
And even if he does inefficiently score 25 points per game that just is not enough to be an all-star anymore. Scoring is higher than it has ever been in the league and a 25 PPG guy just is not as special, especially if he is playing for a bottom-five team in the league and is doing so in garbage time.
Seventeen players averaged 25 points per game last season and it was not an automatic bid to the All-Star Game. De’Aaron Fox averaged 25.2 points and did not make it, Collin Sexton averaged 24.3 and didn’t make it, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (who is far more talented than Kuzma) averaged 23.7 and didn’t make it.
There are so many established stars as well as younger stars in this league that are not yet all-stars, like SGA, that are simply better than Kuzma. He can improve, and I hope he does, but he will never improve to that level to jump all of those names.