“Lakers have been trying to trade Kyle Kuzma all season long”: NBA executives believe Rob Pelinka is planning for post-LeBron James era without 2017 draft pick

NBA Insiders reveal that the Lakers have been looking to trade Kyle Kuzma away for quite some time. 

As many fans know, Kyle Kuzma was one of the better rookies during his first year in the league. The player looked far better than the franchise’s lottery pick in Lonzo Ball and had the fans believing he was a future superstar.

Fast forward a few years, and the same fans that were raving about the player, want him out. Frankly, it is a tad bit unfair, since the player has shown some major improvement in the last two seasons.

He was even one of the more important rotation pieces in the 2020 championship-winning team. However, it is undeniable that the star just didn’t live up to all the initial expectations. And it seems that the Lakers no longer want to keep him on board.

Bleacher Report recently revealed that the franchise has taken a complete 180 on the young player, and did so a long time ago. Let’s get into it.

Also Read: Is Anthony Davis playing Game 5 tonight vs Suns?

Insiders reveal that the Lakers want to trade Kyle Kuzma for more promising young pieces for the post-LeBron James era

It is clear that there was once a time that even the Lakers believed that Kyle Kuzma could turn into a superstar. The team even moved to retain the player during the Anthony Davis trade that sent Ball, Ingram, and Hart.

But, as was recently revealed, it seems that hope has finally died out. Here is what Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report wrote on the topic.

“”They made a bunch of calls,” one assistant general manager told B/R. “They were very active.

“In addition to their pursuit of Lowry, the Lakers were canvassing the league for opportunities to acquire a rookie-scale player who could perhaps bridge this James-Davis chapter and the inevitable post-James future. Before Spencer Dinwiddie’s injury, Los Angeles even inquired about adding Brooklyn’s reserve ball handler in exchange for Kuzma.

Kyle Kuzma steps through and rolls in the @Lakers game-winner! #PhantomCam pic.twitter.com/WlZiLKefHI

— NBA (@NBA) May 13, 2021

“I think they’ve been trying to move Kuzma for a long time,” added another assistant general manager. “His defense has always been questionable, and I think his early success has become a bit of fool’s gold.”

Up until very recently, it seemed that Kuzma’s career as a Laker was all but finished. However, the recent injury to Anthony Davis does present an opportunity. If the player can step up and support LeBron James in the absence of the Brow, he could extend his stay with the historic franchise.

And if he can take a massive leap in this time, who knows? Maybe we’ll see the franchise put faith in the player’s potential once again.

Also Read: Skip Bayless piles pressure on Lakers’ Finals MVP ahead of Game 5 vs Suns

About the author

Tonoy Sengupta

Tonoy Sengupta is a Senior Editor at The SportsRush. Coming from an athletically inclined family, he has been surrounded by sports ever since he was 4 years old. But, while initially pouring all his time into Football (soccer), at 14, Tonoy discovered basketball through the countless highlights of Stephen Curry humiliating players from Curry Land. And just like that, a fiery passion for the game was ignited within Tonoy. And soon after, he decided to become a student of journalism, graduating in 2022, and choosing sports as his area of interest. Today, you can find him spending 99% of his time browsing through every type of content on every team in the NBA, before uncorking everything he has found to the world. In the 1% he isn't doing this, you can find him playing Basketball, Football, Volleyball, or practically any other sport he has had the opportunity to learn.

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