The NBA’s four-month hiatus may have helped Kyle Kuzma rediscover his jumpshot at a much-needed time, Bill Oram of The Athletic writes. Kuzma poured in 25 points off the bench in the Lakers’ scrimmage win against Orlando on Saturday, shooting 10-of-13 from the field and 5-of-7 from deep.
Since arriving in Orlando, much of the talk surrounding the Lakers has been about Kuzma’s impressive play, Oram notes. This includes both scrimmages and team practices.
“What he did today,” coach Frank Vogel said, “he did all through our ‘restart training camp’ so to speak. I’m just really excited about what the restart is going to look like for him.”
Kuzma’s role has been cut back with several veterans joining the team over the past year. He’s averaging a career-low 12.5 points in 24.6 minutes per game, with his shooting marks also declining (43% from the field and 30% from behind-the-arc on the campaign).
The Lakers will rely on Kuzma’s production off the bench despite his reduced role, needing all hands on deck to successfully compete against deep Western Conference teams such as the Clippers, Rockets and Nuggets in the postseason.
Here are some other notes out of the Pacific Division today:
- Kings forward Harrison Barnes never experienced any symptoms while dealing with COVID-19, head coach Luke Walton said, according to Jason Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link). Barnes could play in the team’s scrimmage against the Clippers on Monday, Walton added. He’s averaging 14.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 34.9 minutes this season for Sacramento.
- Veteran guard Dion Waiters has mostly had a soft landing with the Lakers in Orlando, Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register writes. Waiters scored 12 points off the bench in the team’s scrimmage on Saturday, shooting 5-of-9 from the field. “Here, it’s like it’s different, man,” Waiters said. “It’s a vibe. Everybody’s just positive. We got our own slang and things like that going on. … It makes you feel good though. You’re excited.”
- Suns guard Elie Okobo has arrived in Orlando but wasn’t available for the team’s scrimmage against Boston on Sunday, Gina Mizell of The Athletic tweets. Phoenix is slated to play one more scrimmage on Tuesday before re-opening its regular season against Washington on Friday. It’s unclear whether Okobo, who likely must go through quarantine, will be available for those contests.
I think in a couple months we are going to be looking back at the Dion Waiters signing as one of the most important additions by any playoff team
Big Caruso fan but I ultimately see Waiters cracking the 9 man rotation come playoffs and getting a solid 20+ mins at the expense of Alex
Kuzma a solid player. I blame NO for not demanding him in the AD deal.
They got a much better player in the deal in Brandon Ingram.
Kuzma would be good for Knicks
A future pick and 1 of 5 top-10 draft talents
Example
Knox and a future pick
Nothing wrong with getting both Kuzma, and Ingram in the deal especially when your dealing away AD. I agree Kuzma would be great on Knicks. Doubtful Knicks have any chance to get him.
Laker should flip Kyle Kuzma for Derrick White
Spurs will be rebuilding very soon with DeRozan and Aldridge’s deals ending and the poor recent record. At PG they already have Murray and Mills plus a decent draft pick in a PG heavy draft. Whereas they don’t have much in terms of young forwards.
White would be a good fit with Bron and AD
Kuz is a nice talent. But Bron does not trust him in playoffs. Teams are not scared of him. They know they can physically take him out gms. Plus he’s a liability on D right now. He’s young so he could wake up soon. If he just shoots consistently. It would be huge. Be the offense off bench. But it’s gotta be consistent. Waiters was a solid pickup. He gets his act right. He’s a solid rotation guy. He won’t back down in playoffs like JR. So because if that it’s a good pick up. Bradley n Rondo are better on D. But these two show up for 20-25 mins a gm. Lakers are stronger. Still don’t hear Clippers IMO
They got their own SLANG!