Although the Los Angeles Lakers have the best record in the Western Conference, like everyone else in the NBA, they will be on the lookout for ways to improve their team between now and the Feb. 6 trade deadline. One of the ways many believe the Lakers can improve their team is by trading Kyle Kuzma, who is easily the most attractive trade asset the Lakers have on their roster outside of the star duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
And several teams in the NBA are trying that logic, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. However, the Lakers aren’t interested in making any big moves.
Several teams are doing their due diligence on forward Kyle Kuzma and viewing whether they can pluck the talented 24-year-old as part of their future from the championship-contending Lakers, but the Lakers value Kuzma as a core part of the future and are focused on making moves around the edges and not a major one, league sources say.
Although Kuzma found himself in some headlines thanks to his trainer Clint Parks making comments about LeBron James, the Lakers still believe in Kuzma’s ability to play next to James and Anthony Davis. Kuzma played well after the comments and also made sure to make amends with LeBron and the family. Another more practical reason that makes Kuzma difficult to trade for the Lakers is his relatively low salary, making it harder to bring a veteran, impact player back who is on a bigger salary.
Teams are smartly seeing if they can get Kuzma since he appears to be redundant at power forward on a team with LeBron and Davis. But the Lakers aren’t ready to play that card yet. With a 27-7 record, it’s hard to blame them for avoiding a major change at this point in the season.
