Lakers rumors: LA tried to trade Kyle Kuzma at the deadline

According to a Bleacher Report update, the Los Angeles Lakers nearly traded Kyle Kuzma before the NBA trade deadline. 

For a while now, it feels like the Los Angeles Lakers have had high interest in trying to trade Kyle Kuzma. To no one’s surprise, this was once again the case this season, as rumors swirled surrounding the small forward.

As it turns out, the Lakers were working to try and trade him before the deadline, but nothing was able to get done. According to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer, the LA front office made several calls trying to get a deal completed.

The Los Angeles Lakers were working overtime trying to trade Kyle Kuzma before the deadline

“I think they’ve been trying to move Kuzma for a long time,” an assistant general manager told Fischer. “His defense has always been questionable, and I think his early success has become a bit of fool’s gold.”

Kuzma is in the middle of a down campaign for the Lakers, as he averaged 12.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game during the regular season. In the playoffs thus far, Kuzma is averaging 22 minutes of action against the Suns, scoring a lowly 5.3 points per contest.

It goes without saying, but those are not the stats Lakers fans were hoping to see from Kuzma in pressure situations. He clearly doesn’t have a long-term future with Los Angeles, which is why the team was clearly ready to move on from him earlier this year. Once again, though, nothing was able to go through.

For now, Kuzma remains with LA and he’s hoping to help his side move on to the next round. Once the season does come to a close, though, don’t be surprised to see the trade rumors get going once again.