Proven Scorer and Draft Steal, Kuzma Still Wants More

By Kevin Ding - Senior Writer

The topic being discussed with a league executive is which NBA team should've taken Kyle Kuzma in the draft picks before the Lakers got him at No. 27.

"He shouldn't have been there at 10," the executive said.

That conversation occurred before Kuzma lit up the Boston Celtics for 17 fourth-quarter points on 6-of-7 shooting in the Lakers' 108-107 victory Tuesday night.

To be fair, even the Lakers didn't project Kuzma as a top 10 selection back in June. But with the benefit of hindsight, it's reasonable to say that making Kuzma a top 10 selection is now a conservative projection.

A poll of NBA scouts had Kuzma as high as fifth in a hypothetical re-draft. Going in the top seven seemed a fair expectation for Kuzma, even though so many top rookies have been impressive and almost all of them are younger than Kuzma, 22.

For example, No. 9 Dennis Smith Jr., has potentially outplayed his spot for Dallas, and No. 13 Donovan Mitchell definitely has for Utah. Yet Mitchell is getting the Jazz offense largely run through him a la Gordon Hayward with a usage rate of 28.5; Smith is even higher at 28.6 for the Mavericks. Kuzma is showing how explosive he can be in the Lakers' free-flow format with a far lower 22.9 usage rate.

And those Kuzmanian detonations have been undeniable.

He had 28 points in 27 minutes against Boston. He had 15 points in 10 minutes the game before against New York, sitting more than usual because of a jammed right index finger and inattentive defense.

Kuzma walks off the court after scoring 28 points against the Celtics

Kuzma leads the Lakers in scoring at 16.7 points per game, but if Kuzma played the 35 minutes per game that early season Rookie of the Year front-runner Ben Simmons is logging, Kuzma would almost stand as a 20-point NBA scorer (19.6) already.

That's serious stuff for a rookie to be able to score like that in a man's league.

And how unsurprised Kuzma is by it all is a testament to his confidence.

There's callousness to Kuzma's carriage. It's as if his posture makes clear he's always ready to shrug off a miss—yet is fully expecting a make.

It's premature to think it could be a true Kobe Bryant confidence.

Let's say it's a lot like a Robert Horry swagger, however.

Kuzma has no fear of the consequences.

"Every time I touched it, I was trying to score," Kuzma said of his hot fourth quarter against the Celtics.

That daring disdain is something that scorers can identify in each other, which is why Bryant spent time having dinner with Kuzma and even tweeted a muscle-flex emoji last month as a hat tip to how strong it is for an NBA rookie to expect to score in the 30s. It's why Boston's Kyrie Irving was openly talking in-game to Kuzma and sought him out for a midcourt embrace after the game Tuesday night.

"He's a great competitor; I like playing against guys like that," Kuzma said of Irving, who led Boston with 33 points. "Good chirping."

After the final buzzer Tuesday, as the I Love L.A. musical chords and party streamers began to celebrate the Lakers holding on to beat the rival and previously 34-13 Celtics, what was Kuzma doing?

He got the ball and couldn't resist attempting one more shot, even though he was near halfcourt.

When you are looking for a true NBA scorer, you would much rather figure out how to rein him in than have to persuade him to go get his shot.