Lakers’ Trade For Davis Shows Kuzma’s High Value

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The NBA landscape was flipped on its head when it was reported that the Los Angeles Lakers had completed a trade for Anthony Davis.

In exchange for dealing Davis to L.A., the New Orleans Pelicans will received Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and three first-round draft picks, including the No. 4 overall pick in next week’s NBA Draft.

The Lakers got their man in Davis, who is expected to join forces with LeBron James and create one of the top lineups in the NBA, but the Pelicans got quite the haul in exchange.

While the trade showed Davis’ tremendous value, it also illustrated how valuable former Utah basketball star Kyle Kuzma has become in the NBA.

The Pelicans have agreed to a deal to trade Anthony Davis to the Lakers for Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, and three first-round picks – including the No. 4 overall in 2019 Draft, league sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 15, 2019

For weeks, maybe even months, Kuzma’s potential involvement was considered to be one of the pivotal factors in the trade talks between the Lakers and the Pelicans. By holding Kuzma out of the trade and surrendering more draft picks than had been previously anticipated, the Lakers have made it clear that they expect the former Ute to be a major contributor in their run at a championship.

Kuzma’s stock has risen sharply since his days at Utah. That’s not to say he was a slouch with the Utes, he earned first time All-Pac-12 honors in 2016-17 as a junior before declaring for the NBA Draft.

kyle kuzma looking at the rest of the young players going to the pelicans while he gets to stay in LA with bron & AD pic.twitter.com/WpzTX9uQap

— 😈🇵🇷 (@JUL2523) June 15, 2019

Considered to be an average shooter going into the draft, Kuzma had exceptional performances at the NBA Draft Combine and in workouts with individual teams and quickly forced himself into the conversation as a potential first round pick.

The Nets drafted him in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft with the 27^th overall pick and immediately traded Kuzma to the Lakers in a deal that involved D’Angelo Russell. Kuzma didn’t hesitate to make a mark in the league. He was named the MVP of the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas and then continued his strong play into earning first team All-Rookie honors at the end of his first year in the league.

Kyle Kuzma right now 😪 pic.twitter.com/LfUt9tnsmB

— Overtime (@overtime) June 15, 2019

While the Lakers had a horribly disappointing season last year, Kuzma continued to bring home some hardware, winning MVP of the Rising Stars Game at the All-Star Break. He also increased his scoring output from 16.1 points per game to 18.7 in 2018-19.

It’s clear that the Lakers think highly of Kuzma. Now the former Runnin’ Ute is on a squad that is considered to be the favorites to win the NBA title in 2020. Although many Ute fans are also Utah Jazz fans, and therefore have less than kind feelings towards the Lakers, it’ll still be fun for folks in the Beehive State to watch Kumza’s career continue to progress.