Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma signed a three-year, $40MM rookie scale extension in December. All other players who signed similar extensions before the season got bigger contracts but Kuzma has no regrets, according to Bill Oram of The Athletic.
“Of course, guys got paid,” the Lakers forward said, “and obviously as a competitor of who you are as a player, you always look at things like that. But at the end of the day, I love the situation that I’m in. … I know a lot of guys that are making $20, $23, $24 million and they’re not really that happy because they go to work every day, you may not be winning, you have to deal with certain other things. For me, I’m happy.”
We have more from the Pacific Division:
- Kings coach Luke Walton doesn’t mind taking heat if it takes pressure off his players, Jason Jones of The Athletic writes. “When we’re behind closed doors and we’re in film sessions and we’re in practices and we’re in team meetings we’re going to be honest and brutal about where we need to get better at, who’s messing up, how do we fix it and we’re going to drill it, drill it, drill it,” Walton said. “But to me, that type of information doesn’t need to be given out in a way that’s going to make any of our players feel bad about themselves,” he said. “That’s not part of the culture we want to build here. … So I’ll take the hits all day long as long as we’re getting the type of work and effort from the players that we need.”
- Suns forward Dario Saric confirmed that he tested positive for COVID-19 last month, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets. Saric hasn’t played since January 11 and his return was further delayed by an ankle sprain, Gina Mizell tweets. He took a bad step during sprints after recovering from the virus but he was active against Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon.
- Kevin Durant faces the Warriors on Saturday, the first time he’ll play against his former team in Golden State since signing with the Nets. ESPN’s Nick Friedell takes a look back at what caused the breakup between Durant and the Dubs.
Kuzma. ” I love the situation I am in. I get carried every night.”
Kuzma “I make 13-14 million averaging 10 pts and 6 rebounds and 1 assist while the ones makes 24 million are either all stars or franchise stats on their own team like ingram and or fox or mitchell”
Would the Lakers fans trade Kuzma for Lonzo?
According to reporters, Lonzo asked for insane amount of money on new contract
Lonzo is long term assets to title contender
Good question.. Kuzma is a role player.. not a star and will never be a star..he still talks likes he’s a star and thinks he’s a max player. lonzo is too inconsistent and he’s insane for asking for insane contract since his stats have stayed the same since he entered league and I question him committment to becoming a better player.The market will dictate his contract not the other way around.. for being a and pick, he’s close to bust material.. tatum and fox are stars.. even Donovan mitchell..
Lonzo agent wants him to compare to Fox contract
Who is a better player? Fox is a mammal and Ball is human
To me, that is insane amount of money
Magic wanted fox in that draft but buss wanted lonzo for the star power..lonzo did help get Ad so it worked out for lakers
Lonzo and two 2nd round picks for Kuzma
Crazy the Pelicans just didnt demand Kuzma at the time ! I mean what where the Lakers gonna say NOOOOO….
Geez drop one of the pick swaps (that prolly wont even kick in) and get Kuzma 2 years ago
Your answer Sillyman- NO NO NO Lakers wouldnt do that trade they have 4 potential guards in the future THT Caruso Schroeder KCP under wraps and are light as hell on rebounds moving forward –
And who’s complaining about $40 million!?
Is there something (besides class) that you can’t buy with that much money!?
He’s not supposed to carry the team lol.
Who said he was supposed to carry the team? I said he loved being carried.
It’s like 2017-2019 never happened. Kuz showed he can lead a bad team in scoring. And he could’ve gotten $17-20 million on another team (see Grant in Detroit or Beasley in Minnesota), but he’d rather make more money than most of us will ever dream about, live in LA, be on one of the biggest sports teams in the world, and have a chance to win championships.
You dont want Kuzma as a Volume scorer –
You want him for his hustle, o- rebs, 3 , ability to play stretch 4 and running on the break
You give him the keys to the offence you’ll see regression immediately
Hes probably playing the best he ever has the last 14 games and its came from simplifying his game not trying to expand it –
The end of this article states tonight will be the first time Kevin Durant plays against the Warriors since signing with the Nets. Was I hallucinating when I saw Kevin Durant score 22 pts against the Warriors during the first game of the season?
first time facing them back in the bay.
It’s missing the words “at GS”, but its no big deal.
No, you just have to learn to read!
I think you’re the one that needs to learn to read!!
NYY42. L
Wondered what happened with Saric. He was a key contributor early in the season, ans then never came back from the corona
Suns resigned Kaminsky at the minimum and still good
Kuzma has played well in every Lakers game I’ve seen. He’s like all young players – he needs time to develop. He’s every bit as good as Michael Porter Jr, for example.
I’d also suggest the guy’s detractors have no idea of the pressure he’s under – playing for a storied franchise, with one of the best ever to do it and winning a championship (playing no small role) and looking likely to repeat.
The league is the best players in the world. He’s one of ’em. Deal with it.
They just don’t like him cause they’re jealous that Kuz has got a great thing going
Kuzma was horrific the first 13 games and has been great the last 14-
Idk how to explain it, but something just clicked-Maybe someone got in his ear, maybe something just clicked
All he does now is hustle every second on the floor, hit the o-rebs or spot up behind the 3 (38%)
Too many Coronas will put anyone out lol.
Suns need Saric , gotta get healthy.
Kuzma was lucky to get 3/40. He’s def tradeable now tho bc of his contract.
Or Maybe The Market Wasn’t that Great for A 1 way shaky shooting Forward! It’s okay to say I took what I could get man
Derrick White got a 73 mil contract, Fultz got 50 mil, white dude from clips got 64 mil, bertans got 80 mil to not even start for wizards. Id rather have Kuz at 40 mil
Take the money out and its still prolly Kuz -agree