The Los Angeles Lakers gave up most of the young players who could help them land a player on the trade market when they acquired Anthony Davis. The one exception to that was Kyle Kuzma, who the team opted to hold onto as part of its collection of players around Davis and LeBron James.
Kuzma has had his ups and downs getting used to his new role in L.A., and he’s missed a handful of games due to injury, but it’s obvious that the decision makers in Laker Land view him as an important piece moving forward. That was confirmed on Friday afternoon by Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reported that while other teams are interested in acquiring his services, the Lakers are steadfast in not wanting to give him up.
Via The Athletic:
Several teams are doing their due diligence on forward Kyle Kuzma and viewing whether they can pluck the talented 24-year-old as part of their future from the championship-contending Lakers, but the Lakers value Kuzma as a core part of the future and are focused on making moves around the edges and not a major one, league sources say.
It would make all the sense in the world that Los Angeles, which sits in first place in the Western Conference by three games, wouldn’t want to do anything major before the trade deadline on Feb. 6. That’s especially true because Kuzma has been a productive bench scorer for the team, as he’s third on the team with 12.2 points a night. Perhaps a day will come where the Lakers decide to look into a move involving Kuzma, but it doesn’t sound like that’s coming any time soon.
