Is kuzma a bust

[koningcosmo]

You realise anyone playing behind AD and Lebron is going to have worse stats? also the 27th pick a bust? he has been shooting 9-17 from 3 in Orlando so far avg 13-14pts a game. I would say if he keeps that up he is the perfect player at almost 2mill a year and 3.5mill next year.

[Sign5]

No and wrong question. You should be asking if he was the right cog to keep and they should have kept Ingram over him.

[reflex35]

He already overachieved.
What some people are talking about??? He's a late 1st round pick.

Maybe he won't be a star but he'll get a reasonable contract and will be set for life. + in most teams he's probably a starter and he's quite good.

Whatever happens to Kuzma now does not matter.. Get the next good contract, ask for trade, be a solid starter on a weaker team and you're good.

He can't be a bust, he already achieved more than a lot of guys predicted.

[reflex35]

No and wrong question. You should be asking if he was the right cog to keep and they should have kept Ingram over him.

Correct and you're asking a right question. No wonder Griffin wanted Ingram who for sure is an Allstar.

Only some LA fans thought that Kuzma is better than Ingram...

I don't get why as they are world apart, but it does not mean that Kuzma is not a good player or is a bust.

He's a bust only for some not so smart LA fans who expected him to be a superstar....

[scottyno]

He's a bust in the sense that when the AD trades were being discussed laker fans thought he was even close to as good as any of ingram brown and tatum which was always laughable. He's not a bust if you had fair expectations for what a late first should be.

[NPZ]

Not a Kuzma fan but he’s having a solid season. He was also picked at the end of the 1st round. So considering his production and where he was picked, he’s not a bust at all in my eyes.

Larry Nance Jr was a 27th pick, too. Is he a bust? He got traded and Kuzma remains. I dunno. Great majority of the youngsters the Lakers F'd around with for far too long were longterm projects that needed yyyyeeeeeears to get incrementally better, if they could at all. Kuz is the last guy remaining to be doing that. He's soft and a guy who needs an open floor and a green light to shoot. Playing for a potential championship candidate forces players to do things they don't prefer at times, but they have to. EX: Phil Jax was on Glen Rice all the time to the point that Glen's wife Christina was doing 2001 clap backs at Phil for being unfair to her man. Phil was the first coach in Rice's life who demanded that he play some form of team D. Glen did it, not very well, but he did it. Kuzma is defo in that boat. He has to fit his game around two superstars, which Rice had to. Glen Rice when the Lakers got him had a hard time being the 3rd option and we're talking about a veteran who avg'd 27 a game before the Lakers got him.

Other dudes in decades past like Orlando Woolridge, Terry Teagle, and Sam Perkins all had a well-documented tough learning curve to play well on a roster that had been together for 10 yrs and was always playing for a title. None of those dudes had that expectation before that. Again, those were vets. Kuzma is still a young nincompoop.

[markjay]

You realise anyone playing behind AD and Lebron is going to have worse stats? also the 27th pick a bust? he has been shooting 9-17 from 3 in Orlando so far avg 13-14pts a game. I would say if he keeps that up he is the perfect player at almost 2mill a year and 3.5mill next year.

This, plus he has been playing the best defense of his career. He’s arguably been the third most important player on the team in the bubble.

Kuzma was dealing with ankle issues in the off season. He’s one of the players who seems to have really benefited from the extra time for rest, recuperation, and working out.

[jonbob17]

Kuzma is just one of those players that a lot of people over rate, probably because he is on the Lakers and he scores at a decent clip. He is what he is, and he is fine, just not as good as a lot of people like to think he is.

[dhsilv2]

I mean, words are supposed to have meanings. You can't randomly apply a different meaning and then be surprised when people correct you on it

True - I knew what he meant by OP though. I guess I'm special

You are correct. Not a DRAFT bust, but a bust relative to the expectations put on him after early flashes. Theres levels to this.

He's been in the league 3 years. He hasn't been around long enough to have that kinda arch.

[Statlanta]

When you compare him to his competition in his draft class
Harry Giles, OG Anunoby, Wes Iwundu, Caleb Swanigan, Josh Hart

And then consider he is a 1st round pick who hasn't made the playoffs

He looks mighty OK.

Everyone is judging him on the LeBron championship supporting cast lens which is terribly unfair.

[PlatinumState]

One could argue Lonzo is a bigger bust than Koozmah and Lonzo was taken second.

[Forte IV]

Is he a bust? No not at all. He was the 27th pick and outperformed where he was chosen. Has he been over hyped? 10 million percent.

[Yuri Vaultin]

Is the 27th pick a bust? Umm, can the 27th pick in any draft ever be considered a bust?

If he was on any other team he would be a role player, but because he is on the Lakers apparently he's somehow been anointed a star?

[Prokorov]

How do you go from untradeable to useless even with all the attention on lebron and ad. His trade value was immense before this year too.

Can you be a bust as a #29 pick in the draft? i think if you are in an NBA rotation as a late 1st/second round pick thats a win

[Nuntius]

I mean, words are supposed to have meanings. You can't randomly apply a different meaning and then be surprised when people correct you on it

True - I knew what he meant by OP though. I guess I'm special

You are correct. Not a DRAFT bust, but a bust relative to the expectations put on him after early flashes. Theres levels to this.

The expectations that were put on him were never fair, though. He became overrated simply because he played for the Lakers. That's not on him, that's on us, fans, and the media.

[Nuntius]

I mean, words are supposed to have meanings. You can't randomly apply a different meaning and then be surprised when people correct you on it

True - I knew what he meant by OP though. I guess I'm special

You are correct. Not a DRAFT bust, but a bust relative to the expectations put on him after early flashes. Theres levels to this.

The expectations that were put on him were never fair, though. He became overrated simply because he played for the Lakers. That's not on him, that's on us, fans, and the media.

[sfernald]

He’s not a bust but

Ingram >>> Kuzma
Ball >> Kuzma
Randle = Kuzma, that says it all really

[PD28]

No Ball is the bust of the bunch. LA should've traded Kuzma instead of Ingram.

[themoneyteam2]

No and wrong question. You should be asking if he was the right cog to keep and they should have kept Ingram over him.

It's not like they just chose to keep Kuzma over Ingram lol. The Pelicans were the ones who wouldn't trade them AD unless they got back Ingram.

[themoneyteam2]

No Ball is the bust of the bunch. LA should've traded Kuzma instead of Ingram.

They would have loved to but the Pelicans wanted Ingram over Kuzma for obvious reasons.