The Reigning NBA champs Los Angeles Lakers continued their busy offseason on Sunday locking under long-term contract another important roster piece. After extending superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis’ contracts last month, the team announced that they also agreed to a new deal with forward Kyle Kuzma.
According to ESPN, Kuzma inked a three-year, $40 million deal that ties him for the franchise through the 2023/24 NBA season. The extension comes with a player option that will allow him to hit the free agency a year earlier.
Kuzma is coming off a down year in which he averaged career-lows across the board, contributing with 12.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in the regular season. He had even worse production in the playoffs, managing just 10.0 points per contest.
Kuzma found himself in the center of trade rumors because of these struggles during the offseason, but it turns out that the franchise still believes he can be a valuable contributor for them in years to come.
“Kyle has shown tremendous growth over the last three years and played a crucial role on last season’s championship team,” said Lakers’ general manager Rob Pelinka in a statement. “Kyle has been a terrific member of the Lakers community, and we are all very excited about his continued future with us.”
The LA Lakers took Kyle Kuzma with the No. 27 pick in 2017, and it’s safe to say that he outperformed his draft position so far. He made an NBA All-Rookie First Team in his first season in the league and has averaged 16.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in 208 career games in NBA.
