Everybody in the Los Angeles Lakers orbit, including former president of basketball operations Magic Johnson, knows that the team needs more outside shooting.
And at least one core piece of the Lakers is looking to turn one of the team’s weaknesses into one of his strengths. Perhaps no Laker benefitted more from playing with LeBron James last season than Kuzma. Kuzma’s comfort moving off the ball and in transition offense were keys to the Lakers season. But Kuzma’s relatively productive season was done despite some inefficient shooting from distance.
After shooting 36 percent from 3 in his rookie season, Kuz shot just 30.3% from long-distance. To remedy that, Kuzma has enlisted the help of NBA shooting coach “Lethal Shooter,” who posted about a workout with Kuzma a few days ago.
If Kuzma becomes a reliable shooter from deep, he can go from a nice young player to an All-Star level contributor if the Lakers are a winning team next season. LeBron James is still under contract and even if the summer is disappointing, Kuzma is going to be one of the players he will count on most.
Kuzma spent season one with LeBron James learning where his shots would come from and it looks like he’s applying those lessons to his summer work. The Lakers will certainly need the results to follow if they are to get back into the playoffs next season.
