Podcast: How high does Kyle Kuzma raise the Lakers' overall ceiling?

Kyle Kuzma appears set to make his season debut for the Los Angeles Lakers, and they couldn’t be happier to have him back. It’s still going to be a process, but he’ll be a welcomed addition to a team that already has momentum. Our hosts discuss what he brings, and how the team might look with the third-year wing in the rotation.

Locked on Lakers

Now that we know exactly what kind of role Frank Vogel has in mind for Kuzma in at least his first couple games, Pete and I were able to discuss a little more clearly what to expect as he works his way to full health. Basically, keep it simple at first; then work him into more responsibility as he shows he’s more ready to assume such a thing.

Then, in the second segment we tried to untangle who stands to be the most likely to sacrifice minutes as Kuzma earns a bigger spot in the rotation. Jared Dudley, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and JaVale McGee come to mind, among others.

To wrap up the show, we open up the mailbag to get caught up on listener questions as we prepare for a busy weekend. Topics for that included: Whether or not we think Derrick Rose is a Hall of Famer. While we both say no, we do think he’d be a worthy addition to the roster should he get bought out of Detroit — though his off-court record would be a tough thing to overlook.

Another listener wanted to know whether we think the Lakers could actually grab a top-three seed in the west this season and, given recent developments throughout the conference, we actually really do think this is a realistic goal.

All that and more to wrap up a fun week of shows.

You can listen to the entire episode below, and make sure to subscribe on iTunes, where you can also leave questions in the form of a five-star review to guarantee your topic makes the show.