Will Kyle Kuzma’s success come back to haunt the Brooklyn Nets?
The quick emergence of Los Angeles Lakers rookie Kyle Kuzma has Brooklyn Nets brass possibly questioning their offseason trade decision.
The Brooklyn Nets were beaten by the Los Angeles Lakers last weekend, facing off with former franchise center Brook Lopez. Lopez had a great game but the Nets were also troubled by the Lakers’ emerging rookie star, Kyle Kuzma, who ironically was brought to Los Angeles via the blockbuster trade with the Nets.
The Nets have been beaten up as of late with injures to key members of their front line. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Quincy Acy and rookie center Jarrett Allen have all missed games recently. The team has hit a skid matching up with opposing forwards, as was clearly evident in their recent road loss to the Denver Nuggets Tuesday night. Nuggets star Nikola Jokic‘s career-high 41 points exposed the Nets’ fragile options at the position without much relief coming in the near future.
As good as the guard play has been for the Nets since acquiring D’Angelo Russell, it’s still a wonder at how good the team would be if it had kept its original selection from the 2017 NBA Draft.
Kuzma was selected 27th overall by the Nets, but due to the trade stipulations between Brooklyn and Los Angeles from the Russell trade, it was actually a pick for the Lakers. Since dazzling this year’s NBA Summer League alongside teammate Lonzo Ball, Kuzma has shown every bit of a potential star in the league in the early parts of the 2017-18 regular season.
The 6’9″ star from the University of Utah is already averaging 14.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game for the Lakers and is easily among the top rookies of the class. His quick feel for the fast-paced NBA game has impressed many around the league and he is considered a steal from the draft.
Kuzma spoke about his critics heading into this past summer’s draft labeling him as a second round talent during a recent interview with The Vertical.
"“Everyone said I would be a second-round pick or undrafted guy, that’s all I heard coming to the draft, but I had a higher faith, I knew I was way better than that, better than how people pegged me. After I killed draft workouts and the combine, I knew I would go in the first round. I had a good hint that it would be L.A., just because of the workout and my combine interview with them, but I didn’t know until draft night. I know there’s a lot more work for us to do, but I couldn’t have landed in a better situation and I had to take advantage.”"
The fallout from Kuzma’s quick emergence is felt to an extent in Brooklyn, especially after their head-to-head matchup last week. Kuzma made his first start of the season, notching an impressive double-double of 21 points and 13 rebounds.
Before the game, Nets general manager Sean Marks was asked by a reporter from the NY Post if there were any regrets on not keeping Kuzma.
"“No,” Marks told The Post. “The pick was part of the deal. Who knows who would’ve drafted Kyle? Kudos to the Lakers for that.“But at the end of the day that wasn’t ever a factor in our [mind]. Our deal was it’s the right time to go get that talent and try and develop D’Angelo. And put Brook into a situation where the Lakers wanted him, so it’s as good situation for him too.”"
The Nets will continue to be thin upfront talent-wise for the foreseeable future until a trade is made at some point during the season. The hope moving forward is the continued development of Hollis-Jefferson and Allen to become more impact players offensively and alleviate the pressure to score on the Nets’ backcourt.
Russell is putting up amazing numbers after 10 games with the Nets, averaging 20.4 points, 5.6 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game. The career-high season seems to be what is keeping the Nets’ critics at bay for now, but to continue playing devil’s advocate, Russell is also averaging 4.3 turnovers per contest, including eight in Tuesday’s loss to Denver.
As a follower of the Nets from back with their years in New Jersey, this script has been written before regarding ball-dominant star point guards. Stephon Marbury and Deron Williams each put up big scoring numbers during their prime seasons with the Nets, but struggled to win games before eventually being traded.
Williams enjoyed playoff appearances after Brooklyn made some additions to the team around him, but was later looked at as the weaker piece of the team due to his shoot-first mentality and various injuries.
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Kuzma is off to a great start in his NBA career and will continue to grow as a player throughout the season since being placed in the starting lineup. Russell, as talented as he is, doesn’t make teammates that much better — hence the importance of having Jeremy Lin with him starting was important. The fear for Kuzma will definitely be the midseason rookie wall that many first-year players hit, but it’s safe to say his success could come back to haunt Brooklyn.