Kyle Kuzma named rookie of the month

iamworthy · Post #1 » by **iamworthy** » Fri Dec 1, 2017 8:48 pm

Kuzma paced Western Conference rookies in scoring (16.7 ppg) and field goal percentage (50.4). He ranked second among West rookies in rebounding (6.1 rpg) and third in three-point field goal percentage (37.9). The 6-9 forward scored in double figures in 18 of 20 games. On Nov. 17, Kuzma scored 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 122-113 loss to the Phoenix Suns, becoming the first Lakers rookie to reach those totals in a game since Magic Johnson in the 1979-80 season. In 11 starts for Los Angeles (8-13), Kuzma averaged 18.1 points and 7.5 rebounds.

Here are additional highlights for Simmons and Kuzma in October and November:
http://pr.nba.com/kia-nba-rookies-of-month-octnov/

Laker_Kid · Post #2 » by **Laker_Kid** » Fri Dec 1, 2017 9:18 pm

it's no fluke. Kuz is the real deal.

TheHartBreakKid · Post #3 » by **TheHartBreakKid** » Fri Dec 1, 2017 10:19 pm

During our rebuild, this is only our second rookie of the month (JC in march his rookie season, when the team was in full tank mode and he had free reigns to do anything he wanted on offense).

Considering we've had 3 number 2 picks in a row since JC's rookie season, props to Kuzma for being the one who got it done.

He should be all Rookie first team for sure.

SashaTheMachine · Post #4 » by **SashaTheMachine** » Sat Dec 2, 2017 1:08 am

My hero

Beethoven · Post #5 » by **Beethoven** » Sat Dec 2, 2017 3:03 am

Not shocked.

Landsberger · Post #6 » by **Landsberger** » Sat Dec 2, 2017 8:45 pm

wafer88 wrote:
Considering we've had 3 number 2 picks in a row since JC's rookie season, props to Kuzma for being the one who got it done.

Thus is the folly of trying to rebuild by the draft only.

XXBKXX · Post #7 » by **XXBKXX** » Sun Dec 3, 2017 12:04 am

Landsberger wrote:
wafer88 wrote:
Considering we've had 3 number 2 picks in a row since JC's rookie season, props to Kuzma for being the one who got it done.

Thus is the folly of trying to rebuild by the draft only.

Rebuilding your core through the draft isn't a folly.. the folly lies in expecting to turn your franchise around the next year after the draft. Rebuilding through the draft is a long game. Three years of tanking that results in three top 5 draft picks..another three years after that to let them develop. All in all its about a 6 year process (give and take) before you can legitimately start making noise for the playoffs. This means that your team drafts well and there's no busts or ijnjury problems.

Landsberger · Post #8 » by **Landsberger** » Sun Dec 3, 2017 12:42 am

XXBKXX wrote:
Landsberger wrote:
wafer88 wrote:
Considering we've had 3 number 2 picks in a row since JC's rookie season, props to Kuzma for being the one who got it done.

Thus is the folly of trying to rebuild by the draft only.

Rebuilding your core through the draft isn't a folly.. the folly lies in expecting to turn your franchise around the next year after the draft. Rebuilding through the draft is a long game. Three years of tanking that results in three top 5 draft picks..another three years after that to let them develop. All in all its about a 6 year process (give and take) before you can legitimately start making noise for the playoffs. This means that your team drafts well and there's no busts or ijnjury problems.

..... yet the last 4 Championship runs of the Lakers had central players arrive via trade or FA. The 90's playoff teams were completely dismantled after 6 years of "good" drafting.

Kareem was brought in through a huge trade of assets assembled after the early 70's run. Shaq came via FA. Gasol by trade.

Let's see.... GS won their first one with a mostly organic team but then again Cleveland was decimated with injury. Their second one was with Durant who came through FA. That Cleveland team won in the middle and was assembled through FA and trades.

The "Superfriends" run in Miami was FA driven.

Houston's team currently is trade and FA driven

Boston's team has FA and trades in the core

OKC's team is a mix

SA has always had a mix of picks and FA/Trades

The idea that you can just draft in your slot and get a balanced team is folly.

You need a top 5 talent to win in this league these days. Getting one of those in the draft happens once in a generation for us..... and we get them more than anyone else!

To me the "through the draft" vs. "trade and FA" discussions always revert to emotional attachment to "our guys". I really like Kuzma and I really like Nance. I would trade them in a NY minute if it made got us closer to another championship. This team lacks balance and we are now going to have to start re-signing these top picks each year.... none of these guys are that central player that you win around IMHO. We will have to go get that guy.

macNcheese3 · Post #9 » by **macNcheese3** » Sun Dec 3, 2017 2:17 am

Well deserved KK. He has been a pleasant surprise. Love his ability to play inside and out. He will continue to improve.

XXBKXX · Post #10 » by **XXBKXX** » Sun Dec 3, 2017 3:06 am

There's pros and cons with either approach to a rebuild: drafting vs free agency/trade. The latter produces immediate results whereas drafting your core players takes a while before producing results. With that said, rebuilding through the draft (if drafted correctly) is a better option imo. You get a longer window with the players as opposed to trading for FAs already in their prime. We drafted Kobe and as a result we were able to enjoy two championship runs with him (kobe/Shaq and Kobe/Pau). Additionally we had a good 14 years of prime Kobe. Spurs drafted Tim Duncan and saw the same results (tim/Robinson and tim/parker/ginobli).

You typically don't get to enjoy that type of longevity when you rebuild through trades. Normally you trade for players in their prime, so you have a 4-5 year window before you have to blow it up.

The ideal situation is when you can thread the needle to have a core of young players that are producing mixed in with stars in their prime. This is what we are trying to do with 2 FAs next year to go with Zo,BI,Kuz. This is what Boston has right now with Hayward,Kyrie, Taytum and Brown.. in these scenarios you are setup to both win now and in the future.

baldur · Post #11 » by **baldur** » Mon Dec 4, 2017 7:53 am

well deserved and he must start if we want to compete.

Post #12 » by **milesfides** » Mon Dec 4, 2017 4:31 pm

Just needs to start playing D and hustling more, get some hands on passes and shots. He's too athletic and long to be playing lazy. Love the chip on his shoulder on offense, but completely lacks grit on defense.

He and Jordan Clarkson have that thing we all know about some ballers, they try to make everything look easy, too cool for school, beating you without even trying, having that swagger. But on defense, they should be pinning shots on the backboard, jumping into the passing lanes, boxing out, helping weakside, etc.

He gets buckets with ease, by far our most talented offensive player, possibly among the league's best at his position already as a complete offensive player. But he's got some major, deep holes in his game.

dub81 · Post #13 » by **dub81** » Mon Dec 4, 2017 4:38 pm

milesfides wrote:Just needs to start playing D and hustling more, get some hands on passes and shots. He's too athletic and long to be playing lazy. Love the chip on his shoulder on offense, but completely lacks grit on defense.

He and Jordan Clarkson have that thing we all know about some ballers, they try to make everything look easy, too cool for school, beating you without even trying, having that swagger. But on defense, they should be pinning shots on the backboard, jumping into the passing lanes, boxing out, helping weakside, etc.

He gets buckets with ease, by far our most talented offensive player, possibly among the league's best at his position already as a complete offensive player. But he's got some major, deep holes in his game.

He's a rookie, that will come with coaching and learning the NBA game. Also, the way Luke pulls him and out of the lineup is confusing. I honestly believe recently he's playing more like a robot because he's afraid that Luke might take him out for whatever reason rather than just playing. imo.

One Love · Post #14 » by **One Love** » Mon Dec 4, 2017 4:53 pm

Hands down the STeAL of the draft... Kid needs minutes... One question, If he was the 2nd pick, would he be starting?

macNcheese3 · Post #15 » by **macNcheese3** » Mon Dec 4, 2017 8:56 pm

big time steal.

Post #16 » by **milesfides** » Mon Dec 4, 2017 9:51 pm

dub81 wrote:
He's a rookie, that will come with coaching and learning the NBA game. Also, the way Luke pulls him and out of the lineup is confusing. I honestly believe recently he's playing more like a robot because he's afraid that Luke might take him out for whatever reason rather than just playing. imo.

Defense and hustle stats like steals and blocks do not come naturally at all. That’s just a baseless assumption. The rare exceptions come about from hard work or a radical change in role and attitude.

What comes to Kuzma naturally is scoring from anywhere, naturally and easy. But there’s nothing natural and easy about playing good NBA defense.

If you want him to be a great player, you have to challenge him in those areas.

Landsberger · Post #17 » by **Landsberger** » Tue Dec 5, 2017 2:52 am

XXBKXX wrote:There's pros and cons with either approach to a rebuild: drafting vs free agency/trade. The latter produces immediate results whereas drafting your core players takes a while before producing results. With that said, rebuilding through the draft (if drafted correctly) is a better option imo. You get a longer window with the players as opposed to trading for FAs already in their prime. We drafted Kobe and as a result we were able to enjoy two championship runs with him (kobe/Shaq and Kobe/Pau). Additionally we had a good 14 years of prime Kobe. Spurs drafted Tim Duncan and saw the same results (tim/Robinson and tim/parker/ginobli).

You typically don't get to enjoy that type of longevity when you rebuild through trades. Normally you trade for players in their prime, so you have a 4-5 year window before you have to blow it up.

The ideal situation is when you can thread the needle to have a core of young players that are producing mixed in with stars in their prime. This is what we are trying to do with 2 FAs next year to go with Zo,BI,Kuz. This is what Boston has right now with Hayward,Kyrie, Taytum and Brown.. in these scenarios you are setup to both win now and in the future.

We didn't draft Kobe. Charlotte did. Drafted June 27th and traded to us for Divac on July 11th. Divac was a piece we drafted. That's not semantics either. This is exactly the opposite of drafting in your slot and waiting. This is going and getting what you want by trading a slot drafted talent.

At the end of last year we had Randle, Russell, Ingram and Ball (on the way). We had a 1 year window before we had to start shelling out 5 year deals to keep them. The longer window isn't there until you sign the first of the 4 to long term deals. At the end of a 4 year run if you don't have the team you want you have 4 support guys on big deals and most likely no cap room and limited flexibility.

I know everyone BELIEVES that our guys are all the best young guys in the league (or at least anytime anyone hints that it may not be the case the wheels come off around here) but here's a thought...... what if they aren't and are much closer to their ceiling than many think. The "need to work on XXX" stuff is nice but there are a couple hundred guys in the league that are in their late 20's to early 30's that HAVE worked on their deficiencies and failed to improve them. Strengths are much more sedentary than most think while weaknesses are pretty rarely ever turned into strengths.

All that said, I wouldn't trade just to trade or sign just to sign. If we can get an Alpha in here to help this team I'm all for it. If the leadership believes we need 2 guys then do that as long as it improves the team. At the end of the day I want to be watching a championship contending team in 2 to 3 years.... if no one on this team is on that team I'm fine with that.... if they all are I'm fine with that too. I don't have anyone on the team I couldn't stand watching being successful somewhere else if it means we get better.

madmaxmedia · Post #18 » by **madmaxmedia** » Tue Dec 5, 2017 6:36 pm

It appears you need a generational-type talent (or at least it REALLY helps) to win a title now, the kind of player who is actually worth more than the max contract he earns (either from the team that drafts him, or the team that signs or trades for him.) Having a significantly positive ROI on a major asset/investment creates huge leverage for a NBA team.

Those players are rare so you have to be lucky to draft them, have the right pieces/situation to trade for them, or be able to present yourself as an attractive free agent destination. The great thing about signing one in free agency is you cut right to the chase and avoid the long development period, you don't care about paying them a max because they're worth more than that anyway.

Drafting in the top 10 and 'only' ending up with guys like Julius Randle don't really help you in the long run, because you will end up either paying them what they're worth (or more), which from a roster management perspective doesn't give you an edge over the top teams. A couple of them on rookie scale contracts can help if the timing is right, and they help you land a big FA though.

I think realistically you need to be successful in the draft as well as make smart signings/trades to give you the best chance to challenge for a title. Being in a major market is a nice tiebreaker if you have already executed well and are competing against other teams for that big FA.

Hitting on both Kuzma AND their #2 draft pick would have been great, especially if they hadn't also sacrificed DLO to get rid of Mozgov. I don't mean that to criticize the FO, I just mean that had some things turned out better the Lakers could have set themselves up for a really good offseason coming up.