Everyone who thinks the Los Angeles Lakers are too young or topsy-turvy to not make the playoffs next year should know this: Kyle Kuzma disagrees with you.
From ESPN.com’s Ohm Youngmisuk:
Kuzma said he has worked out with LeBron James and the two are looking forward to seeing what the Lakers can do with free-agent signings such as Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson, JaVale McGee and Michael Beasley to go with a young, growing core.
“We are both definitely excited about the roster and the pieces that we have,” Kuzma told ESPN on Tuesday, after visiting with 20 kids from the Safe Places program at his hometown Flint YMCA as part of the “My Y Story” content series. “And we think that a lot of people are underestimating us. It is definitely going to be fun playing with all these new guys.” . . .
“I don’t know why people kind of just rule us out because we are young,” said Kuzma, who was a first-team All-Rookie performer after averaging 16.1 points and 6.3 rebounds last season. “We are hungry. We are competitive. Anybody that watched us play last year, we were in a lot of games.
The validity of Kuzma’s comments all depend on the context he’s using to make his assertion. Could people be sleeping on the Lakers if they argue they’ll miss the playoffs in the ultra-deep Western Conference? Yes. Are critics underestimating them if they don’t believe the addition of LeBron James mixed with internal growth from Kuzma and the other kiddies could be good for around 50 wins? Perhaps so.
But are we wrong to think that the Lakers are not viable title contenders—that they wouldn’t win in a seven-game series versus the Golden State Warriors or even the Houston Rockets, Utah Jazz or perhaps some other teams? Not at all.
At the bare minimum, this Lakers outfit appears one entrenched star shy of making a legitimate championship push. Maybe they find out that player is already on their roster by year’s end. Maybe they sign him in free agency. Maybe they trade for him in free agency.
No matter how you slice it, though, these Lakers, even with LeBron, need time before they’re viewed as anything other than a Western Conference playoff hopeful.
