The Los Angeles Lakers have been immersed in offseason business in the past week, acquiring Dennis Schroder in a trade and setting up the roster for free agency.
Kyle Kuzma's name has come up in plenty of trade rumors of late, and Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka addressed Kuz's status with the franchise on Thursday:
https://twitter.com/hmfaigen/status/1329504359470620673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1329504359470620673%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flakersdaily.com%2Frob-pelinka-drops-hint-about-kyle-kuzmas-future-with-lakers%2F
Kuzma is eligible for an extension this offseason, and he wants a big one. But as noted, Kuzma has an entire season remaining under contract, which gives the Lakers more time to evaluate the Michigan native's development once more as he attempts to coexists on the floor with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
While Pelinka doesn't seem to be in any rush on an extension, he praised Kuzma heavily and seemed to tease a bigger role for him after the departure of Danny Green in the Schroder trade. That could just be puffing Kuzma up, though, and this doesn't necessarily mean there won't be a trade.
Kuzma didn't live up to the hype during his third season in the league. Practically every metric took a reasonable dip, along with the forward's playing time. The Lakers were in the midst of a championship run with Davis entering his prime and James having more years behind him than in front of him. The development of Kuzma took the backseat to those two major facets.
It will be interesting to see if the Lakers and Kuzma actually come to the table for extension talks. The 25-year-old will surely be pick, and he may want to bet on himself in Year 4 in order to earn a bigger deal in 2021.
Follow Us
Subscribe