Los Angeles Lakers: Should the Lakers have traded Kyle Kuzma?
By Zane Harris
Many thought that the Los Angeles Lakers would trade Kyle Kuzma at the NBA Trade Deadline, making it surprising when Kuzma stayed put.
Kyle Kuzma is one of the sole returning players on the Los Angeles Lakers from the 2018 season, and while this is an accomplishment itself, he has struggled to find his role on the restructured team.
Kuzma’s best trait is his slashing and scoring; while he is still developing his the outside shooting and defensive aspects of his game. However, outside shooting and defense are arguably the most important skills for any Los Angeles Lakers player that are not named LeBron James or Anthony Davis.
Kuzma still has the potential to develop these traits, but the Lakers are in a position to win now. As a result of this, the time tables do not quite line up for a team with an aging superstar who more than likely will eventually show signs of declining in LeBron James, and arguably the best second option in the league who is on an expiring contract to wait for a young player to develop.
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A way to capitalize on the potential of Kyle Kuzma and push the team into front-runners to win the finals would be to trade him for someone who can help the Lakers win now. This was a very popular thought leading up to the deadline and caused three major rumors to be formed on who could be traded for Kyle Kuzma.
I will be analyzing the major pieces of each trade and determining if it would have been worth it for the Lakers to make that deal.
The first trade rumor sent Kyle Kuzma to the Timberwolves in exchange for Robert Covington. Covington would hypothetically fit into a role on the Lakers better than Kuzma has meshed with the system. He plays the part of a three and D player that is essential in building a team around LeBron James perfectly.
He shoots threes both more accurately and efficiently than Kuzma. On top of this, he is arguably one of the best perimeter defenders in the league and has the length and size to guard any position on the court.
The second rumor said that Kyle Kuzma would be shipped off to the Pistons in exchange for Derrick Rose to reunite with LeBron. Rose would bring even more media attention to the Lakers with him being one of the most beloved players in the entire league.
He would also bring electric scoring off of the bench along with exceptional leadership. However, Rose could struggle to fit in on the Lakers. He is a player that is most effective with the ball in his hands and is not the best outside scorer.
On a team with Anthony Davis and LeBron James as the two stars, the paint is already crowded as is. This would cause Rose’s best quality to become limited and could also be harmful to the spacing on the court.
The third and final rumor detailed Kuz would be traded to Sacramento in exchange for Bogdan Bogdanović. This trade was even explored by the Lakers before the deadline; however, it would ultimately be declined by the Kings.
Bogdanović has a lethal outside shot that would do wonders for the court spacing in the Lakers offense. Along with Rose, Bogdanović would have been an incredible bench scorer or even could have taken Danny Green‘s spot in the starting lineup.
Next. Jamal Crawford should not be considered. dark
In the off-season, however, problems could have arisen from Bogdanović contractually if another team were to offer him a large deal that the Los Angeles Lakers could not match.