[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 It may have gotten lost in the lonzo hype, but kuzma has been absolutely fantastic in summer league play. He is showing off skills that many thought were questionable coming into the draft, particularly lights out outside shooting. I don’t want to overreact, but based on what we’ve seen so far, kuzma looks like he could be the steal of this draft.

The Lakers suddenly seem to have the potential for a pretty interesting dilemma to emerge at the pf position going forward, with three young players in randle, Nance and kuzma all looking like they could be fighting for mins. While Nance and randle can do a lot of things well, neither projects as the type of floor spacer that kuzma does, and having bigs that can stretch the floor is essential for the way Walton wants to play.  

 

[SeattleSuperChronicsParticipant]

 I watched quite a bit of Kuzma at Utah…I always thought he was a solid college player  maybe a second round pick. But this is wow he has been a revelation. He give them a different flavor at the power forward and I can see him playing the 3. His game just translate perfect to today nba. 

[JordanC20Participant]

 He can thank Lonzo for making him look good he thrown him some pretty nice passes and made it easy for him.

[SlickBouncePassParticipant]

Lonzo looks good too.  But don’t credit Kuzma’s success to Lonzo alone.  Kuzma is the one that has to make the shots, and he’s done a fantastic job and is a very good all around player.  

Josh Hart is a smart solid player too.

Ingram, Hart, Kuzma, and Ball with be the nucleus of this team’s future, before of course the FA Splash that is inevitable for the Lakers.

Even if they don’t sign FAs like if Lebron comes over, I can see those 4 leading the team.  Nance is just a dunker, and I don’t like Randle’s game at all besides his rebounding.  

If I was the Lakers I’d have at least two of those four on the court all season.

Curious about the regular season let’s see how they hold up.  I think all 4 will be solid NBA contributors.  

  

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 This is the type of bull feces thats im already over.  Ball didnt even play tonight and Kuzma had his best game scoring 30 n 10.  Lets not forget Lakers got their first win the game Lonzo missed and are 2-0 without him in SL.

 

Ball can actually thank Kuzma for padding his assists stats hitting long 3s and catching football passes in coverage that will be turnovers during the regular season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SubZeroParticipant]

Totally agree with this. Even though Lonzo’s probably gonna be one of the league’s best passers immediately and I like the way he plays because I used to run the offense the same way in high school, but man a lot of his assists have come off either teammates hitting tough shots or bigs playing the worst help D I’ve ever seen to leave their man completely open. And yet the commentators still worship him when he makes a chest pass to a wide open guy but doesn’t even notice when someone else does something better, like Isaiah Whitehead’s between the legs backwards pass on the fast break when they played LA. I know it’s not a Lonzo post, but still my thoughts

About Kuzma, I only knew him by name this year and never watched him, but man right now I can’t believe 26 teams passed on him. I’m sure he didn’t look this good at Utah, otherwise he would’ve gotten picked higher, but he makes that Brooklyn trade even better. I’ll be interested to see him and Ingram on the court together, because that could be a pretty good scoring duo

[ZouldiersParticipant]

 Plus, Kuzma and Ball have that light skin connection so it is best to play them together more. Randle may be the most talented of the 3 but him going against other 2nd units makes him more dangerous and it could be really good for the Lakers.

[llperez]

 Love his game, it translates very well to NBA. Can go one on one, finish down low, hit threes. 

His final summer stats through 7 games:

21.9ppg…51%fg.,,45%3pt(24 of 50)

 

He’s absolutely gonna push Randle and nance for minutes 

 

 

 

 

[he_gets_bucketsParticipant]

 I think Randle is the odd man out. Nance is far and away a better defender, I think you can put him and Kuzma out there together in small ball lineups and be a dynamite fast break team. Randle is the bad sort of tweener- not big enough to bang down low, not skilled enough to play on the outside, doesn’t defend multiple positions, heck he barely defends any. Not really sure if he has a role on a winning team, puts up average stats on a bad team in a featured role. 

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 Not big enough to bang as a C down low or…

Because hes def big enough as a PF to bang down low hes hes 2 inches taller and 10 pounds heavier then the DPOY at PF.  Hes also avg over 9 rpg in only 28 mpg his first 2 seasons.

 

[he_gets_bucketsParticipant]

 Thats a cherry pick and you know it, Draymond is the exception not the rule

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 If Randle can get them 10-12 boards a night and score inside that might be all they need at the starting power forward spot.

I like the idea of a bigger group off the bench with Kuzma, Nance, and Zubac. Although they will probably mix and match on the front line (or basically rotating guys around the Lonzo/Ingram core).  Clarkson, Hart, and Caruso (Blue?) look like some of your top guard options off the bench. Still need some defense!  I am wondering if they should give Tony Allen a look. Can play either the 2 or the 3 and can defend anyone on the perimeter (even some 4’s).   

[thetrademachineryParticipant]

 they already have caldwell pope no need for t.allen.

[HeroescantdieParticipant]

could average 10 rebounds a game with Nance and Kuzma battling for minutes. Randle was drafted in 2014, back then stretch 4s who can defend was not that demanding, Randle was drafted because of his beast like play style bullying everyone, it goes to show that in 3 years alot can change in the nba thanks to GSW. Now teams are so enamored with strecth 4s that is athletic and can defend. I think Kuzma’s skillset are great for todays NBA game. although I could wish for more effort rebounding the ball.

[MopgrassParticipant]

 Each of the 3 PF’s have good reason to play with Ball. Kuzma already has a connection with him and spreads  the floor, Randle sprints the floor better than a lot of guards, and Nance is is an obvious alley-oop candidate. 

The problem with Kuzma is just experience. Otherwise, he’s the best and most obvious starter with Ball. I assume he’ll play some 3 or the G League (boo). Randle is the obvious starter. I’d like to fit him not to be a point forward and spend less time with the ball. He changed his ugly for over the offseason. It looks better. I feel like he has loads of talent, but is very poor at using it. His on-ball defense is actually quite good, especially on the perimeter. But wow, he can’t help on defense AT ALL. He doesn’t get it and he doesn’t make an effort on the guys he’s not assigned to. He also can’t jump without a running start: so guys jump over him all day. Nance is confusing. He looked so promising his first year. He started playing more aggressively on offense toward the end of the year and always hit 20 footers. Last year lacked confidence. I think part of it is his injuries are worse than we know. He was the best +/- guy on LA last year. He can defend. I think if he’s fully healthy, he’s outstanding. 

They just need to make a trade for a young guard. I’d trade Randle because of his contract coming up. 

 

 

[Mr. 19134Participant]

Lakers went 3-0 without Ball in the lineup or finishing the game.

 

Kuzma got robbed of the Summer League MVP as he was clearly the most productive and efficient player in the league.

 

 

 

 

 

[llperez]

 I would stick with 2-0, the game he didn’t finish they had a big lead with ball and almost blew it without him. But still you are correct, kuzma deserved MVP. 

[Kwame33Participant]

To add on to that-he was +7 in the loss to the Celtics, +17 prior to exiting the game vs the Mavericks.

[Dog_ShammdogParticipant]

As a LAL fan I’m very excited with what Kuzma can bring to the table but am really hoping that Deng gets moved sooner than later as he said he wants more minutes at PF and that’s our deepest position.  That and his contract may as well be a malignant tumor…. And LAL really needs to play Deng to optimize his value in hopes of moving him, so the first half of the season could be frustrating watching Deng eat up Kuzma, Ingram, Randle and Nance’s minutes when all three need the experience and chance to develop on the court.

I’m predicting that Randle and Deng play heavy minutes early in the season to up their trade value and if they don’t get moved by the deadline, they’ll see their minutes start to shrink as the season goes on.  Randle’s in a contract year and I don’t think they’ll be willing to pay him what he could get on the FA market unless he absolutely shows out and shows a consistent jumper.  Hopefully Deng plays well too and they can shed that contract one way or another 

 

[bigtymer32Participant]

 as a lakers fan i’m excited for him .he’s put in the hardwork and it shows.this makes trading randle and clarkson easier.

[OhCanada-Participant]

 I said he shouldve been drafted in the lottery and nbadraft.net/Aran Smith was also really high on him and you guys bashed us. The kids like Melo lite with less bad habits. LA has been drafting well the last 2 years.

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