The Los Angeles Lakers have removed Kyle Kuzma from trade discussions with the New York Knicks, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
This comes in the wake of talks that the Knicks are sending Marcus Morris to the Los Angeles Clippers for a package that includes Maurice Harkless and other assets.
How deep New York got into discussions with the Lakers for a Kuzma trade is not really known.
However, trade chatter has surrounded Kuzma for the last several weeks, as the third-year forward has disappointed in what many thought would be a breakout campaign for him.
In 40 games this season, Kuzma is averaging 13.1 points and 4.4 rebounds over 25 minutes per game while shooting 43.7 percent from the floor, 33.7 percent from three-point range and 74.8 percent from the free-throw line.
Kuzma has primarily come off the bench for the Lakers, starting just six contests. It has seemed fairly clear that he has had a difficult time acclimating to Los Angeles' new roster, as his role was diminished with the arrival of Anthony Davis and others.
The 24-year-old, who played his collegiate basketball at the University of Utah, was originally selected by the Brooklyn Nets in the first round (27th pick overall) of the 2017 NBA Draft but was immediately traded to the Lakers.
He appeared in 77 contests during his rookie campaign, registering 16.1 points and 6.3 boards across 31.2 minutes a night while making 45 percent of his field-goal attempts, 36.6 percent of his long-distance tries and 70.7 percent of his foul shots.
Then, last year, Kuzma started 68 of the 70 games he played and recorded 18.7 points and 5.5 rebounds through 33.1 minutes per game, connecting on 45.6 percent of his shots, 30.3 percent of his triples and 75.2 percent of his free throws.
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