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After winning the franchise’s 17th NBA title, the Los Angeles Lakers quickly underwent sweeping changes.
Five of the team’s veteran players are now dressing for other teams in the league after two trades and a series of free agent signings.
Although Avery Bradley, Rajon Rondo, JaVale McGee, Dwight Howard and Danny Green will no longer wear purple and gold, the Lakers have chosen not to trade Kyle Kuzma, which has led to more speculation about his future at long term in Los Angeles.
On Thursday, Kuzma answered questions from the media, including whether he was working on a contract extension with the team.
“We talked. It’s obviously just a discussion between my agent and the organization,” Kuzma said. “They’re working through things. We’ll see.”
Kuzma is expected to earn $ 3.5 million with the Lakers for the 2020-2021 campaign before being eligible for a qualifying offer of $ 5.2 million after the coming season. However, the University of Utah product is eligible to sign an extension and secure its future with the team.
The question for the future is whether the Lakers want to encourage him to a long-term deal or prefer to trade him before the NBA deadline of March 25.
With Kuzma in a somewhat limbo stage of his young career, the 25-year-old has addressed what he believes will be his role with the Lakers going forward.
“You never really know until the ball goes up and the season starts,” Kuzma said. “We’ll see. Obviously, that’s ultimately what Frank [Vogel] consider myself to be. We will see.”
While Kuzma sometimes had his moments last season, the former first-round pick struggled to adjust to become the team’s third option behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Despite his struggles, he tried to improve his skills on the defensive side of the pitch and continued that process during this extremely short offseason for the Lakers.
“I want to build on what I did in the playoffs from a defensive perspective,” Kuzma said. “Take these steps as a defender. Improve my full game, so it’s still a process every offseason. Every time you think about it, you are trying to build on what you did in the last year, work on it, and just improve yourself. “
Kuzma’s future with the team is undoubtedly uncertain at this point, as he could be one of the frequently mentioned players on the trading block as the March deadline approaches.
In the meantime, the promising young forward must continue to focus on improving his game and showing why he deserves a lucrative contract extension.
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