Los Angeles Lakers: Three bold predictions for Kyle Kuzma in 2019
By Jason Reed
1. He does not make the starting five
There is this conception going around that the Los Angeles Lakers are going to start LeBron James at the point guard position, which opens the door for Kyle Kuzma to be in the starting lineup.
While this may be the outlook at the end of games when the Lakers want their best guys out there, it is not going to be the starting lineup that Frank Vogel rolls with.
The idea of LeBron playing point guard is birthed by the idea that he is the best distributor, which I do not disagree with, and that he is going to be the second star to Anthony Davis, which I also do not disagree with. However, he is not capable of guarding good guards and it will cause defensive problems.
Not only that but the Lakers have three point guards on the roster. They wouldn’t have three point guards if they planned on giving LeBron the bulk of the minutes there.
Instead, LeBron should start at the three with Davis at the four and DeMarcus Cousins at the five, moving Kyle Kuzma to the bench where he can be a great sixth man behind both LeBron and Anthony Davis.
Every title-contending team needs a great bench guy and Kuzma can be just that. Vogel can stagger the minutes where he is almost always on the court with either LeBron or Davis at any given time, maximizing his effectiveness.
He will still get a good chunk of minutes, it just should not come from being in the starting lineup.