Kyle Kuzma (SF/PF, LAL): Week 20 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12-Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 54% of leagues

ANALYSIS: If we know something about the Los Angeles Lakers, that is that they are on a very middling run that has them fighting to avoid the play-in due, mostly, to a bunch of injuries hitting them hard during the past few weeks. LeBron has missed time. Anthony Davis has missed time. Andre Drummond (Andre Drummond!) was signed off the buyout market as a last resort to keep the record up (?) and Kyle Kuzma was basically forced into the starting lineup from Mar. 21 on because of a lack of warm bodies.

Has Kuzma played to a starting-player level in the past month and a half, though? Kind of. Kuzma's averaged 29 FP in the last 22 games, starting 20 of them. Kuzy comes off his best performance of the season after the break after putting up 44 fantasy points on Thursday facing no less than the crosstown rival Clippers. Kuz finished that one with a 25-5-4-2-1 line, which was great, but also far from his season average line of 13-6-2.

Going back a month, from Apr. 12 on, Kuzma has played 13 games with an average 14-4-2 line shooting 51% from the floor on a more than healthy 11 FGA. That's what happens when Bron and AD miss time, I guess. The usage hasn't been molly-bonkers, though, so odds are Kuzma can keep up his averages ROS whether the superstars can come back full time or not. The Lakers need everything from everybody so the pressure will be sky-high but Kuzma should stay out there racking up starts and heavy minutes--remember LeBron is back down again and AD is expected back on Friday but we'll see how he looks.

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