The Los Angeles Lakers offseason began earlier than anyone would have wanted, but the team will now get some much-needed rest after their Orlando Bubble NBA Championship run. The front office, meanwhile, has been hard at work identifying where upgrades need to occur to get the team back into the NBA Finals. LeBron James and Anthony Davis need more help, but Kyle Kuzma has not been getting the job done.
Los Angeles has numerous free agents, headlined by Dennis Schroder. Schroder already turned down a contract extension from the Lakers and is looking to cash in this offseason as a free agent. Wesley Matthews, Alex Caruso, Markieff Morris, Andre Drummond, Jared Dudley, and Ben McLemore are all free agents as well.
While some of those players will undoubtedly be playing somewhere else next season, there is another Laker that sounds like he could be on his way out; Kuzma.
According to Colin Cowherd, as quoted by Heavy, the Lakers would love to move on from Kuzma, as he shared that the former Utah product and LeBron James do not get along.
“Kyle Kuzma – LeBron doesn’t get along with him. They’d love to move him, he’s kind of expensive. It’s not the kind of contract you can’t move, but it’s not necessarily team-friendly considering he disappears in big spots for the Lakers.”
This came about from Cowherd saying that the Lakers believe they have a strong shot at landing Damian Lillard, who is the biggest name being mentioned in NBA trade rumors thus far this offseason.
Los Angeles would love to include Kuzma in any of those trade talks, but only have Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Schroder, in a sign-and-trade scenario, to offer Portland. Given the fact that Lillard is in his prime and under contract through 2025, that package would fall well short of what the Trail Blazers are looking for.
The biggest takeaway from Cowherd is the relationship, or lack thereof, between Kyle Kuzma and LeBron James. Everyone knows that James has some input on roster decisions, so it seems like a matter of when, not if, Kuzma will be traded away.
