Kyle Kuzma and the Los Angeles Lakers are seemingly destined for divorce.
It has been something of an open secret for months now that L.A. desperately wants to dump the 25-year-old, and both sides are clearly getting less coy about what’s inevitably going to happen here.
Last season, Kuzma averaged 12.9 points on 44.3% from the field and 36.1% from beyond the arc, while also chipping in 6.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists. Those numbers are fine for a random reserve, but they don’t quite reflect the expectations that the Lakers had for Kuzma after his stellar rookie campaign.
As such, there is no way of getting around it – a separation is coming.
There are two teams that are reportedly in the running for the former Utah standout’s talents.
According to NBA insider Evan Massey, those two teams are the Oklahoma City Thunder and Sacramento Kings.
“Kuzma’s value is not extremely high right now, but both the Kings and Thunder have interest in him,” a source told Massey.
“That isn’t to say they’ll make an aggressive offer, but they’re definitely teams to watch in this situation. It isn’t likely that the Lakers’ asking price will be sky high, and it seems like a deal could be had for any team that believes in Kuzma’s potential and talent.”
LeBron James has been fairly open about his frustration with Kuzma, so none of this should come as a shock. Once you lose the support of the team’s best player and leader, the writing is on the wall.
Moreover, Kuzma’s somewhat delusional take on the year that was and what the future holds from last week spoke volumes about how detached he currently is from the Lakers and where the organization is headed.
Kuzma is getting traded sooner rather than later – that much is now clear. Where he will ultimately end up remains to be seen.
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