Mindaugas Kuzminskas was recently waived by the New York Knicks so they could make room for Jokaim Noah’s return from a 20-game suspension that began last season. And while he has yet to find another home, the instant-offense virtuoso could end up with the Los Angeles Lakers.
According to ESPN.com’s Ohm Youngmisuk:
The Lakers are keeping tabs on free agent Mindaugas Kuzminskas. According to sources with knowledge of the team’s thinking, the Lakers, in need of perimeter shooting, are doing their due diligence and met with the forward recently while they evaluate their wing depth.
Plenty of people will write this off as a whatever rumor, but Kuzminskas would be an interesting, potentially helpful fit with the Lakers. Though he fell out of the Knicks’ rotation to start this season, he flashed shooting ability, both on the catch and off the dribble, during his 2016-17 rookie campaign.
The Lakers could use a flyer with that kind of upside. They rank dead last in three-point accuracy, dead last in catch-and-shoot effective field-goal percentage and 28th in points scored per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com. Kuz gives them another body who is capable of creating his own shot and hitting some spot-up looks; his three-point conversion rate hovered below 33 percent last season, but the Knicks’ offense was a relative disaster, and he put down more than 38 percent of his wide-open triples prior to the 2016-17 All-Star break, per NBA.com.
Signing Kuz demands the Lakers create a roster spot, and it’s not totally clear who they could look to part ways with. Tyler Ennis barely plays. A 31-year-old Corey Brewer also doesn’t fit their timeline; they could try to broker a buyout on his expiring deal, though that would compromise their fourth-place defense. The Lakers have the option of, you know, simply playing Luol Deng as well. But that situation appears too far gone, and Kuz is probably the better offensive option anyway.
Keep your eyes this situation. It’s low-key interesting.
