How the Los Angeles Lakers can help Kyle Kuzma reach another level

The LeBron James effect

LeBron James has a tendency to lift the careers of players who might otherwise have faded. Such is the greatness of his legacy.

Norris Cole had a substantial part of two Miami Heat championships and struggled to carve out a meaningful NBA career after James left Miami.

J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert are some of the obvious players that James has lifted in his time with them that have faded rather quickly after they parted ways. Some of that is the natural arc of their careers, but James does have a knack for inspiring those around him to be better and using his gravity to open things up for his teammates.

This year, with the Los Angeles Lakers going all-in on “Point LeBron” (57 percent of his minutes have been at the point guard position this season per Basketball Reference, a number that has sat at zero percent since his rookie year) they’ve leaned into the strategy of giving the ball to their best player for as many minutes as possible.

While James scores when needed, he’s conserved energy because of the danger he poses as an offensive threat with the ball in his hands. The idea is simple — everyone but James moves, James will find you.

It’s proven to be beneficial for James, as he’s logged an average of 2.32 miles per game, his lowest since 2015-16.

Kuzma has been a direct beneficiary from that. When paired with James, the two-man lineup posts a net rating of 14.2, one of four two-man lineups that include Kuzma that is a +10.0 or better, per NBA stats.

Kuzma, as noted earlier in the article, shows flashes of brilliance. Those flashes are often by way of passes from James. His shots come from passes by James 26.5 percent of the time, and on those passes, Kuzma shoots at a rate of 47.8 percent from the field and 45.9 percent from three.

On the season for Kuzma, those numbers are 43.3 percent and 32.5 percent, respectively.

In an era where players are valued more and more because of versatility, how valuable is Kyle Kuzma? His value is hinged on James finding him good looks. Yes, a number of players may be able to set him up with similar looks on other teams, but his ability to create his own shot is, in general, lacking.

It’s OK that Kuzma isn’t a wizard in terms of handling the ball and creating offense on his own just yet in year three, but it feels like he would be even more frustrating at this point in his career if he wasn’t paired with James.

I think there’s a major positive in Kuzma’s style of play and a likely inroad for him to focus on to get to the next level — being decisive.