Warriors select Jonathan Kuminga with the 7th pick of the 2021 NBA Draft

[GQ Hot Dog]

Im on record not wanting Kuminga and wanting Wagner.

King kuminga has won me over.

His ceiling is through the roof vs Wagner

I actually went to an Orlando game in Orlando and watched Wagner. It was only a single game, and I certainly wouldn't use it to say, "He's a bust" or whatever. But if the point was that he's more ready today than Kuminga, that I didn't see. He looked like a kid with promise, who did some things right, but also had plenty to learn. For large parts of his time on the floor, he vanished and I forgot he was out there. He scored some points, but also had a lot of time and attempts to do so. His defense looked pretty lackluster. So he might be a perfectly fine pick in time, and even today isn't a bad pick, but I have trouble with any suggestion that he was more NBA ready than Kuminga.

My opinion of Wagner before the draft and so far this season is that his natural position is as a 4, not a 3 which is why I didn't want him at #7. He looks to me like a smart guy with good feel and instincts but slow feet. He gets by defending on the perimeter with his anticipation and willingness to work hard moving his feet but as time goes on and he continues to fill out and gain weight he won't be able to continue as a 3.

Kuminga OTOH is a far more fluid, quick-footed and flexible athlete than Wagner which is why I see him being a + defender of multiple positions and is the main reason I wanted to draft him over Wagner.

Does that seem consistent with what you saw watching Wagner in person?

[Big J]

Im on record not wanting Kuminga and wanting Wagner.

King kuminga has won me over.

His ceiling is through the roof vs Wagner

I actually went to an Orlando game in Orlando and watched Wagner. It was only a single game, and I certainly wouldn't use it to say, "He's a bust" or whatever. But if the point was that he's more ready today than Kuminga, that I didn't see. He looked like a kid with promise, who did some things right, but also had plenty to learn. For large parts of his time on the floor, he vanished and I forgot he was out there. He scored some points, but also had a lot of time and attempts to do so. His defense looked pretty lackluster. So he might be a perfectly fine pick in time, and even today isn't a bad pick, but I have trouble with any suggestion that he was more NBA ready than Kuminga.

My opinion of Wagner before the draft and so far this season is that his natural position is as a 4, not a 3 which is why I didn't want him at #7. He looks to me like a smart guy with good feel and instincts but slow feet. He gets by defending on the perimeter with his anticipation and willingness to work hard moving his feet but as time goes on and he continues to fill out and gain weight he won't be able to continue as a 3.

Kuminga OTOH is a far more fluid, quick-footed and flexible athlete than Wagner which is why I see him being a + defender of multiple positions and is the main reason I wanted to draft him over Wagner.

Does that seem consistent with what you saw watching Wagner in person?

Yea, Kuminga has sky higher upside than Wagner. Defensively Wagner is just a gritty Dellavadova type of defender that gets exposed when he tries guarding elite players. Kuminga is eventually going to be a Giannis type defender who plays a free safety role that can roam around for doubles and steals and also block a ton of shots.

[GunnerWRX]

If you watch the game, as a 19-yo he also talks on defense. He is not shy and I think he can be a pretty good team defender as well because a) he sees the court and know where others are at and b) he is not shy and communicates well despite being a teenager among a core of champions.


I’m not naive enough to say he can be an anchor like Iguodala or Draymond, but I see all the right traits from him. And he already is a pretty good 1-on-1 defender at this stage.

[Scoots1994]

Im on record not wanting Kuminga and wanting Wagner.

King kuminga has won me over.

His ceiling is through the roof vs Wagner

I actually went to an Orlando game in Orlando and watched Wagner. It was only a single game, and I certainly wouldn't use it to say, "He's a bust" or whatever. But if the point was that he's more ready today than Kuminga, that I didn't see. He looked like a kid with promise, who did some things right, but also had plenty to learn. For large parts of his time on the floor, he vanished and I forgot he was out there. He scored some points, but also had a lot of time and attempts to do so. His defense looked pretty lackluster. So he might be a perfectly fine pick in time, and even today isn't a bad pick, but I have trouble with any suggestion that he was more NBA ready than Kuminga.

To me Wagner just looked like a guy ... nothing really special. Figure he could play in the NBA but that he'd likely peak at decent starter for a number of years, but his floor was high because his skillset was big and he had a good understanding of the game. I saw Kuminga play a few times in the GL and he had such easy power and great body control while also showing that he WANTED to play the game right but was clearly lacking coaching ... I didn't think he'd be showing so much so quick, nor did I think he'd be there at 7, but I really wanted to get him. He was second on my list behind Barnes with Cade just behind him (I would have loved Mobley, just didn't think it reasonable after Wiseman).

Green, Suggs, Bouknight, Giddey, Mitchell, Williams, Duarte I had many more questions with ... still surprised some of them went where they did.

[Duke4life831]

His last 23 games.

10/3/1 on 50/35/64 shooting (59 TS%)

his Per 36 in that time span

21/7/2

The dude is just playing some damn good basketball over the last month and a half.

[SF_Warriors]

If you watch the game, as a 19-yo he also talks on defense. He is not shy and I think he can be a pretty good team defender as well because a) he sees the court and know where others are at and b) he is not shy and communicates well despite being a teenager among a core of champions.


I’m not naive enough to say he can be an anchor like Iguodala or Draymond, but I see all the right traits from him. And he already is a pretty good 1-on-1 defender at this stage.

One of the things I really like about JK is that he is not shy when it comes to things like shooting and communication. Does not have a demeanor one would expect of a teenager, but of someone older. Bodes well for him moving forward.

[and1GS]

If you watch the game, as a 19-yo he also talks on defense. He is not shy and I think he can be a pretty good team defender as well because a) he sees the court and know where others are at and b) he is not shy and communicates well despite being a teenager among a core of champions.


I’m not naive enough to say he can be an anchor like Iguodala or Draymond, but I see all the right traits from him. And he already is a pretty good 1-on-1 defender at this stage.

One of the things I really like about JK is that he is not shy when it comes to things like shooting and communication. Does not have a demeanor one would expect of a teenager, but of someone older. Bodes well for him moving forward.

The talking on defense is a new development. I've actually noticed him pointing around to direct Damion Lee and Klay on defense. His biggest gap on D was correctly reading rotations and understanding where to be in our scheme. I'm actually blown away that he is now confident enough to point others around - and he's been doing great on rotations lately as well.

If you think about it, his absolute floor early in the season was solid penetration scorer and good point of attack defender on 1 through 3. Everything he adds on top of that will take him from an 8-9th man to something much higher - all on a winning team.

[SF_Warriors]

If you watch the game, as a 19-yo he also talks on defense. He is not shy and I think he can be a pretty good team defender as well because a) he sees the court and know where others are at and b) he is not shy and communicates well despite being a teenager among a core of champions.


I’m not naive enough to say he can be an anchor like Iguodala or Draymond, but I see all the right traits from him. And he already is a pretty good 1-on-1 defender at this stage.

One of the things I really like about JK is that he is not shy when it comes to things like shooting and communication. Does not have a demeanor one would expect of a teenager, but of someone older. Bodes well for him moving forward.

The talking on defense is a new development. I've actually noticed him pointing around to direct Damion Lee and Klay on defense. His biggest gap on D was correctly reading rotations and understanding where to be in our scheme. I'm actually blown away that he is now confident enough to point others around - and he's been doing great on rotations lately as well.

If you think about it, his absolute floor early in the season was solid penetration scorer and good point of attack defender on 1 through 3. Everything he adds on top of that will take him from an 8-9th man to something much higher - all on a winning team.

Yea, among his physical gifts, his confidence has been something that stood out to me, and he does it while not seeming arrogant or entitled. Compare his willingness to shoot open shots to ben simmons..its laughable how hesitant BS is when it comes to that.

[shazam_guy]

I'm always slow to get excited about players, just as I'm slow to give up on them, but this kid has me revved for the future.

[Chris Porter's Hair]

I actually went to an Orlando game in Orlando and watched Wagner. It was only a single game, and I certainly wouldn't use it to say, "He's a bust" or whatever. But if the point was that he's more ready today than Kuminga, that I didn't see. He looked like a kid with promise, who did some things right, but also had plenty to learn. For large parts of his time on the floor, he vanished and I forgot he was out there. He scored some points, but also had a lot of time and attempts to do so. His defense looked pretty lackluster. So he might be a perfectly fine pick in time, and even today isn't a bad pick, but I have trouble with any suggestion that he was more NBA ready than Kuminga.

My opinion of Wagner before the draft and so far this season is that his natural position is as a 4, not a 3 which is why I didn't want him at #7. He looks to me like a smart guy with good feel and instincts but slow feet. He gets by defending on the perimeter with his anticipation and willingness to work hard moving his feet but as time goes on and he continues to fill out and gain weight he won't be able to continue as a 3.

Kuminga OTOH is a far more fluid, quick-footed and flexible athlete than Wagner which is why I see him being a + defender of multiple positions and is the main reason I wanted to draft him over Wagner.

Does that seem consistent with what you saw watching Wagner in person?

Yea, Kuminga has sky higher upside than Wagner. Defensively Wagner is just a gritty Dellavadova type of defender that gets exposed when he tries guarding elite players. Kuminga is eventually going to be a Giannis type defender who plays a free safety role that can roam around for doubles and steals and also block a ton of shots.

I didn't see anything at odds with what Mr. Dog is suggesting, but again, it was a single game. I think Wagner will probably be a fine to pretty good player. I'd take Kuminga over him every day of the week.

[HiRez]

I'm always slow to get excited about players, just as I'm slow to give up on them, but this kid has me revved for the future.

He reminds me a little of another young player named Stephen Curry, in that in almost every game you see him do a thing or two that you've rarely if ever seen before. He surprises you. In this game, there were a bunch of times where it looked like he was in trouble (bad lob from Poole with a defender between Kuminga and the rim) or had nothing going on, and he finds a way to use his quickness, hops, and length to get to the rim and score in traffic.

He only played 23 minutes and scored 16 points in this game, but it felt like his impact was much greater than those numbers. The team was scuffling and kind of playing low energy and he came in and set the tone, woke everyone up. For a rookie to do that on a team with ring-wearing vets, that's impressive.

He also only had 4 rebounds but it did seem like he's getting more aggressive (at least sometimes), for example, following Klay's missed 3 with the putback dunk, for a long time I've been on his case for not following up shots and there he did it, hopefully that gets him to realize if he gets himself in the mix when a shot goes up, there's a good chance he can do something if the shot is missed.

[GunnerWRX]

https://theathletic.com/3115444/2022/02/09/2021-22-nba-rookie-rankings-3-0-herb-jones-defense-jonathan-kumingas-rise-here-comes-cade-cunningham/

Kuminga has been in the Warriors rotation essentially since Jan. 6. In that month, he’s been about as good as any rookie outside of that top group. He’s averaging 12 points and five rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the field in just 19 minutes per contest. This season, no qualified rookie has actually scored more on a per-minute basis than Kuminga

[floppymoose]

7th pick has been pretty good to GSW in the 2000's:
Curry
Barnes
Kuminga

Ok one of these things is not like the others but you get the idea.

[FNQ]

7th pick has been pretty good to GSW in the 2000's:
Curry
Barnes
Kuminga

Ok one of these things is not like the others but you get the idea.

McMurray’s Barnes’ a piece of ****

[GQ Hot Dog]

https://theathletic.com/3115444/2022/02/09/2021-22-nba-rookie-rankings-3-0-herb-jones-defense-jonathan-kumingas-rise-here-comes-cade-cunningham/

Kuminga has been in the Warriors rotation essentially since Jan. 6. In that month, he’s been about as good as any rookie outside of that top group. He’s averaging 12 points and five rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the field in just 19 minutes per contest. This season, no qualified rookie has actually scored more on a per-minute basis than Kuminga

And I just picked him up for my fantasy squad!!! Sorry Loon, you've got the dreaded contusion of the thigh and you're going to have to sit the next two out. C'mon dude, I really need this for my playoff hopes.

[Chris Porter's Hair]

7th pick has been pretty good to GSW in the 2000's:
Curry
Barnes
Kuminga

Ok one of these things is not like the others but you get the idea.

McMurray’s Barnes’ a piece of ****

Awesome reference aside, I wouldn't be surprised if Barnes is actually a perfectly reasonable example of what you can expect at #7. Curry clearly exceeds what you'd have any right to expect. We'll see with Kuminga

[GunnerWRX]

The Harrison hate is strong...

[GunnerWRX]

As of today, of the players drafted ahead of Kuminga, I would still rather have Kuminga than Jalen Green or Suggs.

Can't comment on Giddey as I never imagined that he would be selected ahead of Kuminga, but then he looks pretty good in OKC.

#7 has been pretty good for us, and I think people are too harsh on Barnes. He did well I believe. It could have been way worse. We went to the Finals twice and won 1 ring with him as a top 5-6 rotation guy (starting SF, replaced by Iguodala in the death lineup). All that while on a rookie deal. I couldn't have asked for more.

[hamncheese]

7th pick has been pretty good to GSW in the 2000's:
Curry
Barnes
Kuminga

Ok one of these things is not like the others but you get the idea.

Been pretty good since 1985. You can add Chris Mullin. No other 7th picks between him and Curry.

[Big J]

As of today, of the players drafted ahead of Kuminga, I would still rather have Kuminga than Jalen Green or Suggs.

Can't comment on Giddey as I never imagined that he would be selected ahead of Kuminga, but then he looks pretty good in OKC.

#7 has been pretty good for us, and I think people are too harsh on Barnes. He did well I believe. It could have been way worse. We went to the Finals twice and won 1 ring with him as a top 5-6 rotation guy (starting SF, replaced by Iguodala in the death lineup). All that while on a rookie deal. I couldn't have asked for more.

I'd only trade him for Mobley, and that's only because we currently have a bigger need at C. Kuminga has a muuuch higher ceiling though.