2. Kyle Kuzma
Kyle Kuzma has been the surprise of the NBA season, period. Donovan Mitchell has been stealing the “sleeper” spotlight from Kuzma as he has been a legitimate all-star this season. However, what I often remind people: Mitchell was still a lottery selection at the end of the day. Kuzma very likely would have fallen to the second round if the Lakers did not scoop him up.
Kuzma has played like a lottery pick though and has given the Lakers a far better rookie year than Julius Randle, D’Angelo Russell, Brandon Ingram or Lonzo Ball have. Thus, many fans probably share the consensus that Kuzma will be the first all-star for the Lakers.
However, I would argue that he will not be. Kuzma certainly is capable of making the NBA All-Star Game next season, that is without a doubt. If his scoring improves, as it should, he easily could be a 20 points per game guy while flirting with 10 rebounds. That is all-star worthy.
However, I do not think Kuzma will progress as fast as everyone thinks. He is immensely talented, that is without a doubt. But, I would argue that Kuzma is closer to his ceiling than Ball or Ingram. Ingram and Ball can progress into superstars; I don’t see that in Kuzma. He will be an all-star, but no superstar.
Because of that, I think Kuzma will ultimately be beaten out to be the first Lakers’ all-star since Kobe. Still, though, Kuzma will be an all-star in the future. You can count on that.