The Los Angeles Lakers came up short on Tuesday as Luke Walton's squad fell to the visiting Utah Jazz at the Staples Center. Although the team didn't come out with a win, the team was given more proof they have a budding star in rookie forward, Kyle Kuzma.
The Utah product put on a show once again in front of the Lakers faithful scoring 18 points to go along with four rebounds and arguably the highlight of the game on a vicious spin move. Kuzma is now averaging 19.2 points per game in the preseason and has many buzzing about whether he's done enough to earn a starting job.
After the game, Walton spoke to the media and fielded questions about his talented rookie forward. The second-year head coach believes Kuzma has earned a spot in the rotation.
“[Kyle] Kuzma has forced his way into the idea that we're going to find minutes for him whether it's at the three, the two, the four,” Walton said of the rookie. “Not the two [laughs], but we're going to find a way to keep him on the court no matter what the rotations end up being.”
Not only has Kuzma's play impressed the coaching staff enough to give him a role right out of the gate in his rookie season but becoming a starter might not be out of the realm of possibility. Walton is still evaluating his forwards and remains reluctant to name a starter until the preseason is over.
“With who is going to start at the four, that debate will go on,” Walton said. “We got more practices. We got another preseason game. We probably won't have a final answer until at least the last preseason game.”
Coming into the preseason, Julius Randle was thought to be the odds-on favorite to earn the starting role at the four spot. The former Wildcats star has played that role for most of his career with the Lakers, but now Walton may be ready to shake things up with thrusting Kuzma or Larry Nance Jr. into the starting lineup once the regular season gets underway on Oct. 19.
The Lakers will play their preseason finale on Friday against the same team they play to start the regular season in the L.A. Clippers. Walton's squad will be the away team at the Staples Center with a starting job potentially on the line.
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