Report: Frank Vogel Doesn’t Think Kyle Kuzma Is a Good Fit on Lakers

Although the Los Angeles Lakers had a 24-4 record entering Thrusday’s showdown with the Milwaukee Bucks, one question still surrounds them.

The issue is whether they need another high-level wing defender, particularly to matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

Somewhat related to that is also the question of how Kyle Kuzma fits with this Lakers team.

On a Dec. 13 podcast with Bill Simmons, Brian Windhorst said that head coach Frank Vogel isn’t exactly in love with Kuzma’s game.

“People are talking about Kuzma’s stats,” said Windhorst. “The most important stat with Kuzma is his minutes played, because Vogel doesn’t think he’s a good fit.”

His numbers are down significantly so far this season. In 20 games he’s putting up just 11.1 points a game. That key number — his minutes — are down big at just 23.1 per game, compared to 33.1 last season.

The reason, as Windhorst speculated, might be Kuzma’s lack of defense. The effort is there in terms of staying with his man and contesting shots, but the results aren’t.

“If you look at the history of LeBron [James] the last 12 years,” Windhorst said, “two types of people play with LeBron as complementary pieces: shooters and defenders.”

Simmons then suggested that the Lakers should trade Kuzma in order to solidify their championship chances.

Another issue for the Lakers is that Kuzma plays the majority of his minutes at the 4, but he’s not a great enough shooter to be a true stretch 4.

On the other hand, they lack a true backup 3.

It will be interesting to see if the Lakers eventually use Kuzma as bait to bring in a 3-and-D type player at small forward.