In his fourth season, scoring has taken a backseat as Kuzma has become a better defender
Seeing Alex Caruso lined up against Trae Young, the Hawks went with what seemed like a good idea at the time: They called for a pick that left the Lakers switching Kyle Kuzma onto the fleet-footed, high-scoring point guard. It’s the kind of match-up that scorers would be licking their lips for as recently as last season. Except Young, who can find space against just about anyone, couldn’t find any room to breathe. He drove right first, then crossed over to his left where Caruso lent support with a timely double team. Going back to his right, Young found Kuzma matching his every step all the way to the baseline, where offense goes to die. Young passed it away, but it was deflected, and appropriately wound up in Kuzma’s hands. Kuzma later posted the highlight to his Twitter with a middle finger emoji (it was soon deleted). In one reading, it’s a message to his “haters,” with whom it feels like he’s been stuck in a feedback loop for the better part of three years — including a Puma commercial this offseason directly pulling tweets from public calls to trade him. But it’s also a message to the teams that are used to picking on him on defense: You want to switch onto me? This is what happens. “Every night there’s a team that tries to target you and pick on you,” he said in an interview with Southern California News Group last week. “I really just invite that (expletive). I want to iso guard people. I take pride in it and I just invite those situations. As a competitor, I want people to try to score on me.” That mentality has been a part of Kuzma’s makeup for a long time. But now, in his fourth year, his skills and preparation are rising to the level of brash confidence — and with Anthony Davis perhaps facing more missed games with an Achilles tendon injury, it couldn’t be at a better moment for the Los Angeles Lakers. Unsteady currents have guided Kuzma,25, throughout his career. As a rookie, he was an unexpected splash as the No.27 pick, but that quickly spurred trade discussions. He has been openly talked about as a trade token for Kawhi Leonard, then Davis, then various veterans last season that fans and observers alike speculated could do his job better than him. What protected Kuzma in much of those maneuverings is an unflattering detail: He was cheap. Kuzma is only making $3.56 million this year (his extension begins next season), which is less than Josh Jackson or Dennis Smith Jr., both of whom were top-10 picks who are now on their third teams (actually, both play in Detroit). And now, Kuzma is experiencing something he’s never had in his career: calm.
