Lakers: Los Angeles Should Regret Ditching Kyle Kuzma For Russell Westbrook

Former 2020 Los Angeles Laker championship-winning power forward Kyle Kuzma, also a rumored 2023 Lakers trade target, is currently looking like a fringe All-Star candidate while with a struggling Washington Wizards team.

Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson of Bally Sports recently caught up with Kuzma's Wizards point guard Monte Morris, who grew up alongside Kuzma in Flint, Michigan.

Morris discussed Kuzma's growth as a basketball player, from their days in open gym games together as kids to their shared NBA journey.

Kyle Kuzma was passed over in open gym back in Flint says teammate @BigGameTae to @BallySports.

“He was tall but he was soft.” @kylekuzma is now playing like an All Star.

“His biggest attribute that he’s got right now is his confidence.”

More ➡️ https://t.co/ek8Q7LQjkL pic.twitter.com/4xFjs44M4I
— 👑 Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson (@ScoopB) January 13, 2023

"We done been through the thick and thin together," Morris said. "We never used to pick Kyle up [in open gym games] 'cause he was just tall, but he was soft. We used to say, 'You gotta get a little tougher.' Then he went prep school, went to Utah, put on some muscle, some weight, he figured it out. It's dope to see. I think... his biggest attribute [he's] got is his confidence. If he [didn't] have that, he'd tell you he wouldn't be himself. But.. he thinks he's the best player on the court every time, and I love that about him."

Check out Robinson and Morris's full conversation here.

Kuzma has grown by leaps and bounds even since being traded from LA to Washington in the summer of 2021. The 6'9" Kuzma, still just 27, is averaging a career-high 21.7 points per game, on solid .463/.339/.723 shooting splits. He's also grabbing 7.4 rebounds a night and dishing out 3.9 assists. Were he to somehow be flipped back to LA by this year's trade deadline, he would instantly become the team's third-best player behind All-Stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and it wouldn't be particularly close. James and Davis, by the way, are the only players left over from that title-winning 2019-20 season team.

Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, two of the four players (including LA's 2021 first-rounder) that were flipped in LA's disastrous deal for Russell Westbrook, are both significantly better, more valuable players than Russ right now. LA surely regrets trading for Westbrook and his maximum salary, though apparently not enough to get off his money if it means sacrificing draft picks.