Kyle Kuzma is hardly a stranger to trade rumors since he was the No. 27 pick by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2017 NBA Draft.
Talented young players on extremely cheap deals will always be talked about in trades since that’s what every team in the league is looking for. Kuzma got a warm welcome to the trade block during the 2018-19 NBA season during the Anthony Davis trade saga, but he wound up surviving that and staying on a championship-contending team.
Now, Kuzma is being placed back through the wringer as it will likely be until the end of his rookie-scale contract. A player of Kuzma’s caliber making just about $2 million is going to be in high demand, especially when teams know the Lakers want to make win-now moves and that often comes with trading young players for more veteran pieces.
When asked about the trade rumors, Kuzma was a true professional, recently saying he knows he can’t really worry about it. He also said this is just the type of thing that happens when playing for the Lakers, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
“I mean, just got to just not really worry about it. For me, I’ve been in trade rumors ever since I came here. I think that’s just a thing that happens when you’re a Laker. You’re always in trade rumors especially in this time, so it doesn’t really matter at the end of the day. Just control what you can control.”
While there are conflicting reports, the most recent one has the Lakers showing a ‘recent willingness’ to listen to offers for Kuzma:
As our Shams Charania reported Friday, teams are monitoring his situation and wondering whether he can be had before the Feb. 6 trade deadline. What’s more, sources now say the Lakers have shown a recent willingness to listen to pitches for Kuzma.
Kuzma has spent a lot of time in the rumor mill and it likely phases him way less now than it did the last two seasons. However, it will be interesting to see how he performs heading into the Feb. 6 trade deadline.
And if Kuzma does start to end up in real trade rumors, he should be more equipped to handle it after the events of last season.
