Just catching up on this Kuzma conversation. I think it's highly unlikely that we could realistically pursue him, but LA seems to be willing to listen to all offers.
http://www.basketballinsiders.com/sources-lakers-telling-teams-no-players-untouchable-in-trades/ Considering he does have a really strong relationship with Mitchell AND the state of Utah plus our need for spacing/scoring from PF, I'm sure the FO has at least discussed it briefly.
I'm just going to break down the pieces in play if we were to even consider it:
Kuzma - great asset on a even better contract. Probably represents a 2nd option level player. By 2nd option, I mean he looks like he can be a great Robin to a Batman for a really, really good team. In terms of value, I'd say he's worth multiple decent first rounders. If it were one pick, it would probably take a top 5 pick to get him. He's not a perfect player, but he does have great value.
Deng - horrible contract of $18 the next two seasons. Stretching is highly unlikely this season because it would cost the Lakers $8 million per season for the next 5 if they were to do it. In terms of value, I'd say LA would have to sacrifice a lottery level type pick for a team to absorb Deng's contract without giving that much salary back. If LA wants a summer of anything, their chances are even greater if they aren't paying Deng $18 million the next two years.
Our non-guaranteeds - to the right team (a repeater luxury team, a team looking to open up max space, etc.), the non-guaranteeds are worth a 1st that is outside the lottery. Flipping the non-guaranteeds for Deng for example, would be worth a better first rounder than LA currently has (#25).
#21 - If we were rating trade assets on a scale from 1 to 10, I would say that #21 probably represents a 2 or 3. It's not going to get a good current player by itself.
So overall, we would need to offer non-guaranteeds, #21, a future 1st, and 2nd rounders for Kuzma and Deng. And that's probably just the conversation starter.
