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As Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram suffered injuries last week, the Lakers youngsters have had additional time to rest as compared to Kyle Kuzma, who continues to receive heavy minutes night in and night out from Luke Walton. Unlike most teams in the league, the Los Angeles Lakers rely more on their rookies and second-year player heavily.
The 37-year-old head coach was asked recently if he plans to lessen the playing time of the three aforementioned players. Walton revealed that he would love to do that and give more run to Larry Nance Jr. and Julius Randle. However, the Lakers bench boss also added that it will be hard to do that if Kuzma continues his solid play, via Matthew Moreno and Serena Winters of Lakers Nation.
Article Continues Below“They’ve played more minutes than I wanted to play them going into the season,” Walton said. “But they’ve done a really nice job of not showing fatigue, yet at least. Obviously, the dog days are coming. This next stretch gets tough for everybody in the NBA.”
“If Kuzma looks healthy, it’s tough to get him out of there. It really is. The way he’s playing, it’s hard to get him off the floor. I would like to ideally play him less than he’s playing right now as a rookie. Just to keep him healthy throughout the whole season.”
Before the season started, many had high expectations for the Lakers and even thought of them as possible playoff contenders in the tough Western Conference. Although they only have an 11-21 record to show for now, there's still a long way to go before the season ends which is more than enough time for the Lakers to turn their fortunes around.
That said, Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and Kyle Kuzma could benefit from less court action occasionally as it will allow them to preserve their health and energy for the season's home stretch. By then, the Lakers may still be able to squeeze into the playoff picture but it will require all three of them playing at their best and stronger than ever.
