After winning the franchise’s 17th NBA title, the Los Angeles Lakers quickly went through some drastic changes.
The team’s five veterans are now suing for other teams around the league after a series of two deals and free-agent signatures.
Although Avery Bradley, Rajan Rondo, Jawale McGee, Dwight Howard and Danny Green will no longer wear purple and gold, the Lakers prefer not to trade with Kyle Kuzma, sparking more speculation about his long-term future in Los Angeles.
On Thursday, Kuzma raised questions from the media, including whether he was working on extending the contract with the team.
“We talked. He’s obviously just talking between my agent and the organization,” Kuzma said. “They’re working through things. We’ll see.”
Kuzma will earn 3.5 3.5 million with the Lakers for the 2020-21 campaign, qualifying for the 5. 5.2 million qualifying offer fur after next season. However, Utah University is eligible to sign the University of Utah Product Extension and secure its future with the team.
The question is whether the Lakers want to give them ink for a long-term deal or choose to trade them before the NBA deadline of March 25 is rumored.
At some point in his youth career with Kuzma, the 25-year-old addressed that he believes the Lakers will have a role to play in moving forward.
“You never really know until the ball goes up and the season starts,” Kuzma said. “We’ll see. Obviously, that’s Frank after all [Vogel] Sees as me. We’ll see. “
Although Kuzma had his moments during last season, he struggled to adjust to become the team’s third option behind former first-round picks LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Despite his struggles, he tried to improve his skills on the defensive end of the floor and continued that process in this extremely short way for the Lakers.
“I want to build on what I did from a defensive point of view in the playoffs,” Kuzma said. “Take action as a defender. Improve my all-around game, so it’s always a process in every se fasen. Every time you reflect try to build on what you did last year and work on it and just improve. “
Kuzma’s future with the team is definitely uncertain at the moment as he could be one of the most frequently mentioned players on the trading block heading towards the March deadline.
In the meantime, the promising young forward needs to continue to focus on improving his game and show why he is worthy of an exciting contract extension.
