Los Angeles Lakers small forward Kyle Kuzma has been enjoying his time with Team USA.
Kuzma, the lone Laker with Team USA, says it’s been fun “playing the right way” under head coach Gregg Popovich and with all the star power on the USA team.
“We’ve got a deep team. When you play with an all-star team like this, with stars, everybody has to have a certain type of role,” Kuzma said, via Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times. “And that’s been my role (playing defense). It’s actually fun — super fun — playing the right way.”
Kyle Kuzma can use this Team USA experience to prepare for the 2019-20 season with the Lakers. There's going to be a lot of nights next season where Kuzma won't get the amount of touches he wants on offense since the Lakers have LeBron James and Anthony Davis leading the charge.
When that happens, Kuzma has to find other ways to affect the game and he can practice that with Team USA since USA has so many scorers on the roster already.
Last season with the Lakers, Kuzma averaged 18.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists while shooting 45.6 percent from the field, 30.3 percent from beyond the arc and 75.2 percent from the free-throw line. Kuzma needs to become a more reliable 3-point shooter since LeBron and Davis are going to command double-teams when they drive toward the basket.
Kuzma has shown in his first two seasons in the NBA he can be a 20-point scorer. Now, the 23-year-old just has to be more consistent and efficient.
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