How good can Kyle Kuzma consistently be?

[Street Hunger]

Tonight Kyle Kuzma had 36 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists.

Wizards without Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis beat the Mavericks.

[ShawkFactory]

Idk..pretty good? Depends on what your bar is.

Could he have a month where he averages 22/9/5 and the team plays pretty well? Absolutely.

That's thing thing with guys of his caliber though is that he'll also have a far less efficient month where he goes 16/7/3 and they lose. I like his energy but if he's game-planned against I don't really see him being someone that can be remotely effective as a 1 or even a 2.

But like the Jazz so far, if you catch teams sleeping he's a guy that will play hard and can play well.

[Full Court]

That's just the thing - he's not consistent. He's shown the skill to be an all star level player, but he mixes in too many games where he plays like crap.

[RRR3]

He’s as good as he’ll ever be right now. He’s been the same player on offense since he came into the league to be honest. If he gets starter minutes he will give you 14-18 PPG on meh efficiency.

[AirBonner]

Apparently better than Pippen

[ImKobe]

He's capable of being the 3rd best player on a championship squad. Borderline All-Star if he can be aggressive offensively on a consistent basis. He's very underrated as people still only see him as just a scorer, but he hustles hard on D and is a very good rebounder and was incredibly clutch on both ends last season. He had a 30-game stretch of averaging 22/10/4/1/1 on 48/36/76 splits last year. People still call him "incredibly inconsistent" but he's been a very consistent performer in Washington over the last 50 or so games. He wasn't used right on the Lakers and they could really use a player like him right now.

[RRR3]

He's capable of being the 3rd best player on a championship squad. Borderline All-Star if he can be aggressive offensively on a consistent basis. He's very underrated as people still only see him as just a scorer, but he hustles hard on D and is a very good rebounder and was incredibly clutch on both ends last season. He had a 30-game stretch of averaging 22/10/4/1/1 on 48/36/76 splits last year. People still call him "incredibly inconsistent" but he's been a very consistent performer in Washington over the last 50 or so games. He wasn't used right on the Lakers and they could really use a player like him right now.
When he was actually on a championship squad he was worse than the likes of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Danny Green, Alex Caruso and the corpses of Dwight Howard and Rajon Rondo. Try saying something smart for once. Btw his rate states are very much in line with his career averages in Washington. He’s the same guy he always was on offense. OJ Mayo had a stretch where he looked like an all star on the Mavs lol at using a 30 game sample size from when Beal was mostly out

[ImKobe]

Try saying something smart for once.



Kuz needs the ball in his hands, he's not a catch & shoot role player like Bran ball demanded of him, which is what me and other Laker fans have been saying for years. What he's done in Washington so far has proven my point, and you saw it in LA too when Bran was injured. Kuz can thrive on a team that shares the ball and gives him more opportunities to attack the rim & shoot off the dribble.

And he's a lot better now than he was in 2020, though Bran would still try to turn him into Kyle Korver which would hurt his value.

[Xiao Yao You]

Kuz needs the ball in his hands, he's not a catch & shoot role player like Bran ball demanded of him, which is what me and other Laker fans have been saying for years. What he's done in Washington so far has proven my point, and you saw it in LA too when Bran was injured. Kuz can thrive on a team that shares the ball and gives him more opportunities to attack the rim & shoot off the dribble.

And he's a lot better now than he was in 2020, though Bran would still try to turn him into Kyle Korver which would hurt his value.

sounds like he'd fit in Utah. Washington want Clarkson?

[ShawkFactory]

Kuz needs the ball in his hands, he's not a catch & shoot role player like Bran ball demanded of him, which is what me and other Laker fans have been saying for years. What he's done in Washington so far has proven my point, and you saw it in LA too when Bran was injured. Kuz can thrive on a team that shares the ball and gives him more opportunities to attack the rim & shoot off the dribble.
And he's a lot better now than he was in 2020, though Bran would still try to turn him into Kyle Korver which would hurt his value.

AKA a mediocre to bad team...

The percentage of his shots that are catch and shoot (and catch and shoot 3s) were not discernably different in LA with Bron as they have been in Washington or his first year. He just takes more total shots now.

[Smook A.]

If he learns how to stay consistent, he can easily become a 20 ppg scorer

[RRR3]

Kuz needs the ball in his hands, he's not a catch & shoot role player like Bran ball demanded of him, which is what me and other Laker fans have been saying for years. What he's done in Washington so far has proven my point, and you saw it in LA too when Bran was injured. Kuz can thrive on a team that shares the ball and gives him more opportunities to attack the rim & shoot off the dribble.

And he's a lot better now than he was in 2020, though Bran would still try to turn him into Kyle Korver which would hurt his value.
You can’t just make stuff up to attempt to justify being jealous of LeBron surpassing your hero when I can easily look up the data to refute your idiotic claims.

In the 3 years he played with LeBron he averaged 20.3, 18.4 and 16.1 points per 36 minutes. The dip in the third year is due to adding score first players like Schroeder and Harrell. His TS% were 54.6%, 53.1% and 54.6% again. With the Wizards he has averaged 18.5 and 20.6 (so far) points per 36 minutes and that number will drop when Beal and KP return. His TS% were 54.6% (he’s fond of this number apparently) and 57.2% so far though given his career this will almost certainly drop.

As for catch and shoot numbers he took 4.6 catch and shoot shots per game with the Wizards last year (32.4% of his shots) and 5.3 so far this year (35.8% of his shots). With the Lakers it was 5.5 (35.5% of his shots), 3.7 (33.6% of his shots) and 4.9 (44.1% of his shots). Outside of the year he had to play with 4 different high usage scorers (LeBron, AD, Schroeder and Harrell) his catch and shoot percentages were similar with LeBron as to what they are now. So you’re literally just lying outside of one year in which I already gave context as to why his catch and shoot percentage went up a lot (and it was not related to LeBron). If you want to blame LeBron for him having to take a reduced role when he was playing with 4 different high usage scorers you’d be a complete moron.

[Real Men Wear Green]

He's 27 years old and in his 6th season. He's the player he's going to be. And that's a pretty good player but no allstar consideration if he isn't on a great team... where of course his numbers could drop.

[TAZORAC]

Whatever level a FRINGE ALL-STAR is, Kuzma is slighty beneath that. He's little less of a player then Harrison Barnes, or Prime Rudy Gay.

Could be the 3rd option on a championship team. For example if he played on Milwaukee, after Giannis and Middleton he could be next.

Kuzma isn't constiensent. He pay in 26 points with 5 assist and 7 rebounds one game, 27 points 4 assist 6 rebounds, the next, and not score over 15 points for the next 5 games.

Lakers should have kept Kuzma and got rid of Horton Tucker LAST year

[LAL]

When he was actually on a championship squad he was worse than the likes of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Danny Green, Alex Caruso and the corpses of Dwight Howard and Rajon Rondo. Try saying something smart for once. Btw his rate states are very much in line with his career averages in Washington. He’s the same guy he always was on offense. OJ Mayo had a stretch where he looked like an all star on the Mavs lol at using a 30 game sample size from when Beal was mostly out
"The corpse" of Rajon Rondo saved your boy in 2020, was better in the playoffs if you paid attention. Have some ****ing respect you communist.

[SATAN]

"The corpse" of Rajon Rondo saved your boy in 2020, was better in the playoffs if you paid attention. Have some ****ing respect you communist.

Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash and you never knew him. He never knew you existed. Unlike LeBron, his friend who had to suffer through it.

[tontoz]

Kuzma is a fearless player which can be a good thing or a bad thing. It is good because he can make big shots in crunch time, and has many times for us. It is a bad thing when he tries to do too much. He will try things that are beyond his skill level at times.

[Johnny32]

kuz was arguably lal's third best player in the reg season. in the playoffs though lebron, ad, kcp, rondo, caruso, green, all were more important and all played more mpg. only the matchup dependent bigs and kuz had their mins cut in the postseason.

[LAL]

Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash and you never knew him. He never knew you existed. Unlike LeBron, his friend who had to suffer through it.

W t f :oldlol:

[Axe]

Three points at halftime. 🥴

[Street Hunger]

I still don't quite know what his exact role should be on a team

[ShawkFactory]

I still don't quite know what his exact role should be on a team

On a championship one? Hustle, rebound, transition, spot up/quick strike when the defense is out of sorts. That's about it.

He wouldn't be dribbling much or playmaking.

[Street Hunger]

So on a championship team should kuzma be a number 3A number 4 or number 5 as an option

[bison]

On a championship one? Hustle, rebound, transition, spot up/quick strike when the defense is out of sorts. That's about it.

He wouldn't be dribbling much or playmaking.

In addition to the things you listed, he also provides supplemental scoring. he's a decent shot creator.

It's funny how an attitude towards a guy changes once he's off the Lakers. For the first few years of his career I had to constantly defend the guy not just on this forum, but in a lot of lakers social media pages were laker fans would constantly call him trash and demand his trade. And now all I hear is laker fans bemoan about how pelinka blew up the team and how much they wish they had kuz, caruso and kcp (another guy who got shat on) back.

[ShawkFactory]

In addition to the things you listed, he also provides supplemental scoring. he's a decent shot creator.

It's funny how an attitude towards a guy changes once he's off the Lakers. For the first few years of his career I had to constantly defend the guy not just on this forum, but in a lot of lakers social media pages were laker fans would constantly call him trash and demand his trade. And now all I hear is laker fans bemoan about how pelinka blew up the team and how much they wish they had kuz, caruso and kcp (another guy who got shat on) back.

Decent enough, sure. But he's not consistent enough with that part of his game to warrant giving him opportunities to do that. Particularly in a tough series against a great team.

Kuz is a weird one on this for sure. He's a solid player, but some go overboard (in both directions) about him.

[Axe]

I still don't quite know what his exact role should be on a team
Role player

[Jasper]

Tonight Kyle Kuzma had 36 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists.

Wizards without Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis beat the Mavericks.

I always felt he was like an Odom type player.

[NBAGOAT]

Kuzma can’t be your 3rd best player maybe he can be a 3rd option since he can score 18ppg but he has to play with very impactful defenders who are more important to the team like on the lakers and he needs to be behind a super duo too(lebron/ad). The league is too damn good now. Also impact stuff usually has him as neutral, that can be a starter on a title team for sure but that’s it. Right now he is the 3rd best player and 3rd option on the wizards but they’re a playin team most likely

Gs had 5 guys better than kuzma last year when they won the title, Boston may have had even more and they added brogdon as a 3rd option. Mil has jrue and lopez as 3rd and 4th guys and sims have bridges and ayton. Even looking at some lower tier playoff teams the pels have their big 3, blazers have lillard grant simons, raptors have Og and Trent as their 3rd and 4th guys. Heat have herro and Lowry,

[ImKobe]

Kuzma can’t be your 3rd best player maybe he can be a 3rd option since he can score 18ppg but he has to play with very impactful defenders who are more important to the team like on the lakers and he needs to be behind a super duo too(lebron/ad). The league is too damn good now. Also impact stuff usually has him as neutral, that can be a starter on a title team for sure but that’s it. Right now he is the 3rd best player and 3rd option on the wizards but they’re a playin team most likely

Gs had 5 guys better than kuzma last year when they won the title, Boston may have had even more and they added brogdon as a 3rd option. Mil has jrue and lopez as 3rd and 4th guys and sims have bridges and ayton. Even looking at some lower tier playoff teams the pels have their big 3, blazers have lillard grant simons, raptors have Og and Trent as their 3rd and 4th guys. Heat have herro and Lowry,

Lowry was corpse & the Heat were still 1 shot away from the Finals. Is Kuzma really worse than a player like Herro, who scores at a similar rate and gets exploited on D all the time?

[RRR3]

Lowry was corpse & the Heat were still 1 shot away from the Finals. Is Kuzma really worse than a player like Herro, who scores at a similar rate and gets exploited on D all the time?
Desperately dodged my post that exposed you as a liar :yaohappy:

[ShawkFactory]

Lowry was corpse & the Heat were still 1 shot away from the Finals. Is Kuzma really worse than a player like Herro, who scores at a similar rate and gets exploited on D all the time?

Dude he's currently a #3 on a play-in team. He's a Tyler Herro, OG, Jerami Grant level player.

Nothing wrong with it, but shouldn't be discussed like he is.

[ImKobe]

Desperately dodged my post that exposed you as a liar :yaohappy:

Exposed what? You just posted the per 36s for the entire season like Bran didn't miss significant time in 2 of the 3 seasons. AD wasn't there the first year either so Kuz got more touches and he had a stretch averaging 21.5 ppg when Bran was out with Injury, which just proves my point lol. His per 36 numbers are higher in Washington compared to the 2 seasons with Bran & AD.

He wasn't getting many shots in that 3-10 ft range which is where he's pretty damn efficient at, over half of his shots were 3s his last year in LA and he wasn't getting to the line at all. Nothing I said was false in that initial post. Kuz is clearly better when he has more opportunities to create his own offense, anyone who watches him play knows that.


Dude he's currently a #3 on a play-in team. He's a Tyler Herro, OG, Jerami Grant level player.

Nothing wrong with it, but shouldn't be discussed like he is.

Well that's pretty much what I'm saying, isn't it? He's that 2nd/3rd guy depending on the team.

[RRR3]

Exposed what? You just posted the per 36s for the entire season like Bran didn't miss significant time in 2 of the 3 seasons. AD wasn't there the first year either so Kuz got more touches and he had a stretch averaging 21.5 ppg when Bran was out with Injury, which just proves my point lol. His per 36 numbers are higher in Washington compared to the 2 seasons with Bran & AD.

He wasn't getting many shots in that 3-10 ft range which is where he's pretty damn efficient at, over half of his shots were 3s his last year in LA and he wasn't getting to the line at all. Nothing I said was false in that initial post. Kuz is clearly better when he has more opportunities to create his own offense, anyone who watches him play knows that.



Well that's pretty much what I'm saying, isn't it? He's that 2nd/3rd guy depending on the team.
Desperate excuses. It’s pathetic you can’t admit when you’re wrong even when it’s literally proven :facepalm

[NBAGOAT]

Lowry was corpse & the Heat were still 1 shot away from the Finals. Is Kuzma really worse than a player like Herro, who scores at a similar rate and gets exploited on D all the time?

Lowry was injured during the playoffs but during the regular season still was way better than kuzma. Herros shooting makes him better than kuzma even though yes he has flaws and he’s been pretty efficient this year(58ts%) so far while kuzma is back to around 55ts%

Edit: and he’s just not a 3rd guy on a contender