NBA: 10 players certain to regress in 2019-20
By Greg Steele
3. Kyle Kuzma, Los Angeles Lakers
The last of the Los Angeles Lakers’ young core still standing after a sensational offseason, Kyle Kuzma finds himself in an uncomfortable position. Previous versions of the Lakers allowed Kyle Kuzma to drive against slower forwards and to shoot often. Neither will be true this season.
On a team now featuring LeBron James and Anthony Davis, it is no longer useful for Kuzma to play as a small-ball power forward. What the Lakers need, above all else, is outside shooting. Kuzma is a career 33.5 percent 3-point shooter, leading to real doubts as to whether or not he will be able to provide an outside threat.
His subpar shooting efficiency is even more a red flag when we realize that 90.4 percent of Kuzma’s shots last year came with no defender within two feet of him. He was usually open, he just failed to knock down the looks he got.
Kuzma is not known as a defender and the Lakers now feature a number of superior perimeter defenders with the additions of Danny Green and Avery Bradley. Thus, it is a challenge to see how Kuzma might make a major contribution to the 2019-20 Lakers given his performance record and the makeup of the Lakers’ current roster.