Lakers: Kyle Kuzma Officially Declines Option, Enters Free Agency With LA Return Possible

As has been widely expected, Washington Wizards power forward Kyle Kuzma has now officially declined his $13 million player option for the 2023-24 season (in a deal he originally inked with your Los Angeles Lakers) and will enter unrestricted free agency, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

It's reportedly possible Kuzma could seek a reunion with the Lakers, who shipped him out to the Wizards as part of their disastrous deal for ex-All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook in the summer of 2021. Given that he's essentially a better version of younger incumbent combo forward Rui Hachimura (a former Wiz teammate of Kuzma's), one wonders if the Lakers would renounce their rights to the restricted free agent and let him walk to accommodate a Kuz reunion.

Given that Kuzma's Wizards All-Star shooting guard teammate Bradley Beal has green-lit a trade that will ship him out to the Phoenix Suns to form a new "Big Three" (of sorts) with Devin Booker and a very old Kevin Durant, the writing was basically on the wall that he might seek greener pastures and a richer deal this summer.

The 6'9" Utah product enjoyed his most fruitful individual season on a lackluster Wizards team in 2022-23. Across 64 games, Kuzma averaged 21.2 points on .448/.333/.730 shooting splits, 7.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.5 blocks a night. Obviously that kind of output would be reduced once again alongside incumbent LA stars Anthony Davis and LeBron James, with whom Kuzma won a title in 2020 as a bench reserve, but his athleticism and two-way ability make him an upgrade over Hachimura, assuming the price is right. Perhaps the Lakers front office is interested in a (presumably) cheaper asset with some still-untapped upside, whereas we more or less know what Kuzma is at this point in the 28-year-old's career.

Prior to the Hachimura trade in January, a potential Kuzma reunion felt much more likely. Kuzma certainly seemed to be pining for that storied Los Angeles sunshine in the midst of a dreary D.C. winter, when he tweeted this upon landing for a road trip:

Nothing like getting off the plane and that California breeze hit you 🌴
— kuz (@kylekuzma) December 15, 2022

As Kuzma noted when he was accused by a fan of "tampering" (his initial Tweet is a pretty innocuous comment, really) he still lives in the LA area during the offseason.

Time will tell if a return to Crypto.com Arena (if it's even still called that this fall) will be in the cards for Kuzma.

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