As the 2024 Summer League got underway, Kyle Kuzma got nostalgic about his 2017 Summer League run with the Los Angeles Lakers. He reacted to a picture showing him with teammates Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, and Alex Caruso while looking back fondly on that run.
“What a time.”
What a time https://t.co/56YYRCQHVu
— kuz (@kylekuzma) July 8, 2024
The 2017 Las Vegas Summer League was stormed by a Lakers squad full of young talent who would go on to feature prominently across the league. Along with Kuzma, Ingram, Ball, Hart, and Caruso, the team also featured NBA centers Ivica Zubac and Thomas Bryant. Other notable names are David Nwaba, Matt Thomas, and recent Timberwolves signee P.J. Dozier.
The team went 1-2 and didn’t achieve much, but the players from this squad have gone on to achieve great things in the NBA.
Alex Caruso has been regarded as one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA since his emergence on the 2020 Lakers squad. He left in the 2021 free agency as the Lakers prioritized acquiring Russell Westbrook over re-signing Caruso to a higher sum. He was recently traded from the Chicago Bulls to the contending Oklahoma City Thunder, with many believing him to be the perfect piece for last year’s No. 1 seed in the West.
Ingram, Hart, and Ball were traded away to the New Orleans Pelicans in the Anthony Davis trade in the summer of 2019, with Ivica Zubac being traded earlier that year to the Los Angeles Clippers as a salary dump.
Brandon Ingram is a one-time All-Star but is currently reportedly on the trade block. Josh Hart went from the Pelicans to the Blazers before being traded to the Knicks in February 2023. He has since emerged as one of the premier role-players in the NBA.
Unfortunately, Lonzo Ball’s career has been thwarted by injuries after he left the Pelicans as a free agent for the Bulls. He got hurt in January 2022 and hasn’t played basketball since, but is eyeing a comeback next season, possibly on a new team. Ivica Zubac has been a mainstay on the Clippers, serving as their starting center for multiple playoff runs in the last five seasons.
Outside of Kuzma and Caruso, all other departures have made perfect sense. The Anthony Davis trade brought the Lakers a championship. While it has hurt the long-term health of the organization, these six players will make $120.7 million combined next season.
There was no feasible way for the Lakers to manage that with their talent anyway, and I’d pick a title with LeBron James and Anthony Davis over a still-young group of stars in the NBA who haven’t had major winning success.
Kyle Kuzma Linked To A Lakers Return
Kyle Kuzma was also a casualty of the modern Lakers, being traded to acquire Westbrook in the summer of 2021. He was a star role player for the Lakers in their 2020 championship run and was a long-term piece they could have used.
He has emerged as a star on the Wizards and averaged 22.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.2 assists last season and is a prominent name on the trade market. Kuzma is among the many star names the Lakers have been linked to in recent days.
“Sources say the Lakers have held trade talks with the … Portland Trail Blazers about Jerami Grant, the Brooklyn Nets about Cameron Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith, the Toronto Raptors about Bruce Brown, and the Washington Wizards about Kyle Kuzma — as well as other teams and other trade targets. To this point, though, those are the names most closely linked to the Lakers, according to league and team sources.”
He made a cryptic post on social media, simply saying ‘LA with the vibes.’
The Lakers have had a quiet offseason so far, with no free agency signings so far. They failed to recruit Klay Thompson and Buddy Hield, while not making an offer for DeMar DeRozan as major additions. Kuzma would be a great fit for the Lakers, providing an upgraded version of the two-way play he did with LeBron James and Anthony Davis as a young star.
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