LOS ANGELES _ When the Los Angeles Lakers opened their gym this past summer to reporters wanting to cover workouts for NBA draft prospects, one player who wasn't part of those workouts was almost always there.
Forward Kyle Kuzma spent most of his summer in the Lakers' facility. When reporters entered the gym, he sometimes politely asked that they not record his activities _ he preferred to keep his development quiet.
Five months after the close of his rookie season, Kuzma has returned stronger and with a more varied set of skills.
Now the Lakers are challenging him to use those in unique ways. For the first time since high school, he's being asked to play center.
"It's a work in progress," said the 6-foot-9 Kuzma. "It's coming. Every day's a challenge. You learn every single day. I'm just glad that I can definitely see it coming."
Kuzma isn't the Lakers' only backup option. They have talked about using veteran forward Michael Beasley there too. And perhaps even LeBron James.
The Lakers are exploring the possibility of using Kuzma much in the same way they used Julius Randle last season.
Randle, who at 6-9 has the size of a power forward, played center for the Lakers in their smaller lineups. The Lakers let Randle go in free agency and he signed with the New Orleans Pelicans. His versatility _ the ability to defend guards as well as centers _ gave the Lakers the ability to switch any of their own players to any player on an opposing team.
"He's been working on his game, but coverages and things like that are obviously different from the five spot," Lakers coach Luke Walton said. "He's been good. It hasn't been a ton of reps, but we've had him out there trying to see if it could possibly work."
Kuzma's growing strength will help his cause. Walton and his coaches noticed the power Kuzma added to his body by spending more time in the weight room.
"He's much more of a man right now physically," Walton said. "The way he runs the court, the way he's jumping and taking contact and all those things. You talked about rebounding the ball. He's worked extremely hard this offseason and it's showing up on court."
Strength isn't the only thing Kuzma added to his repertoire. He also worked to develop guard-type skills. All of it came in the name of making himself as versatile a player as possible.
It all came with an eye toward the new era of positionless basketball.
