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

[sonnyhill]

So Kevin O'Connor thinks Dubs will be lucky if JK gets even close to Luol Deng. As in a 15 pt 6 rbd 2 ast guy. Whoever was in that pod thought the same. Obviously I disagree, but I'm curious what people think is JK's ceiling.

Even if that is his offensive ceiling (I would anticipate more assists when he slides into the Draymond facilitator role) his defense is already elite on ball and he's just starting to learn the most sophisticated defensive system in the league. The ceiling is Ron Artest who was arguably a best player on a best team in the NBA for the half a season leading up to the Malice.

I like the Ron Artest comparison; yet, if we are talking "ceiling," we could also project Kuminga to be a small forward in the mold of a Shawn Marion and/or a Kawhi Leonard.

I would also love to see the Warriors hire someone in the mold of Chip Engelland to work with Kuminga on his shooting similar to how the Spurs had Engelland work with Kawhii Leonard to improve Leonard's shooting stroke.

It is quite beautiful to see Kuminga picking up an opposing team's best offensive player full-court and with a "GP II-like" intensity.

[donkeylips]

i would be happy if he became as good as deng was

[KevinMcreynolds]

JK was the only guy that could guard Ja last night with any type of consistency, dude is way quicker than any of our guards

[Sleepy51]

I like the Ron Artest comparison; yet, if we are talking "ceiling," we could also project Kuminga to be a small forward in the mold of a Shawn Marion and/or a Kawhi Leonard.

When I compare him to Artest I'm specifically talking about his peak in the season of the Malice. Artest's career was derailed by the brawl, suspension and his continued emotional health battles so we tend to remember him as the player he was after that defining event, but pre-Malice, that Pacers team was dominatingand Artest had emerged as their best player (net of both ends.) Peak Artest and Kawhi were a significant step above Marion. Marion was a wildly successful player but not close to "best on team." So if we are talking ceiling, peak Artest > Marion.

I don't see Kawhi in the cards. JK is actually more of a natural passer and has a soccer player's understanding of the geometry of the offense and how to reshape the opposing defense. He will be more of a playmaker than a scorer if he wants to maintain Good Team efficiencies. Kawhi is more of an oversized lead guard/ball pounder. That's not what is going to make Kuminga successful.

[Flash Falcon X]

side note: i notice the refs are starting to finally respect kuminga a bit more. early in the season he seemed to get a lot of "extended rookie calls" with him being so young, but in the last game vs brooklyn it appeared the refs let him get a bit physical on defense. maybe he's developing a reputation as a defender to the refs.

I noticed it too, he gets surprisingly few calls against him on defense for being so in the face of players (including stars like Kyrie, Morant, Luka, etc.), constantly fighting over screens, switching off to different players, and jumping out on shooters (he's gotten really good at avoiding the shooter landing zone even when he's late and rushing to contest). However, he's getting a lot fewer trips to the line on offense this year compared to last, though I think that's just a function of adjusting his game.

yeah only time i saw kuminga recently get called for fouls a lot was he was guarding james harden, although harden gets everyone with his foul draws lol. i did like the effort of kuminga guarding harden full court.

[floppymoose]

Minny could sure use a guy like Kuminga. But I think I'll let them keep DLo.

[Twinkie defense]

I was wary of drafting Kuminga but I love his game now. He has so many tools and is really coming along.

[a8bil]

I was wary of drafting Kuminga but I love his game now. He has so many tools and is really coming along.

He's bought into being a "glue guy"...which is usually a spot held down by semi-athletic small forward guys. When your most athletic guy on the team strives to be the glue guy....good things can't help but follow.

[Coxy]

This sequence from Kuminga is bananas.

He gets himself into a passing lane so Klay can find him as he curls back in the key, and has the huge athletic throw down over Bane. He even showed soft hands to collect the difficult feed from Klay to steady himself to go up. However, the next part of it excited me even more than the dunk. He's so pumped from the hammer, that he starts the flex and mean mug show, but then suddenly snaps out of it when he realises the Grizz are quickly going the other way. He then tracks Morant down and gets the deft poke at the ball from behind causing the steal and turnover.

Watch on YouTube

The kid is becoming fudging excellent.

[GswStorm3]

This sequence from Kuminga is bananas.

He gets himself into a passing lane so Klay can find him as he curls back in the key, and has the huge athletic throw down over Bane. He even showed soft hands to collect the difficult feed from Klay to steady himself to go up. However, the next part of it excited me even more than the dunk. He's so pumped from the hammer, that he starts the flex and mean mug show, but then suddenly snaps out of it when he realises the Grizz are quickly going the other way. He then tracks Morant down and gets the deft poke at the ball from behind causing the steal and turnover.

Watch on YouTube

The kid is becoming fudging excellent.

Some people talked about how he never dunked with one hand last season. Something related to his hand size if i remember correctly.

Yesterday he had a one hand dunk with the left and right hand.

[whatisacenter]

This sequence from Kuminga is bananas.

He gets himself into a passing lane so Klay can find him as he curls back in the key, and has the huge athletic throw down over Bane. He even showed soft hands to collect the difficult feed from Klay to steady himself to go up. However, the next part of it excited me even more than the dunk. He's so pumped from the hammer, that he starts the flex and mean mug show, but then suddenly snaps out of it when he realises the Grizz are quickly going the other way. He then tracks Morant down and gets the deft poke at the ball from behind causing the steal and turnover.

Watch on YouTube

The kid is becoming fudging excellent.

Some people talked about how he never dunked with one hand last season. Something related to his hand size if i remember correctly.

Yesterday he had a one hand dunk with the left and right hand.

yeah, the other poster dunk with his left hand was even better than this one. dude is so explosive it's crazy. he is just starting to scratch the surface, I hope he doesn't get traded for any reason.

[Flash Falcon X]

kuminga appears to have a keen sense on making those "simple passes."

sometimes young guys will get too excited and do too much and force things, but kuminga will have like 3-4 possessions in a row where he catches the ball, stays calm, passes to the right guy or simply swings the ball. it may not look like much but it helps gsw execute their plays/offense. that to me is just as impressive as the flashy plays because it shows he knows when to be reserved within the system and when he needs to be aggressive. different speeds.

[HiRez]

Another thing I like on that dunk is he didn't dribble the ball. He caught it on the edge of the paint and just took it in for the dunk. Last year I think he often dribbled when he didn't have to, exposing the ball and giving defenders extra time to close distance. Hopefully he realizes he's quick and athletic enough to get the ball in a wide radius around the rim and finish with a dunk without putting it on the floor.

[Big J]

kuminga appears to have a keen sense on making those "simple passes."

sometimes young guys will get too excited and do too much and force things, but kuminga will have like 3-4 possessions in a row where he catches the ball, stays calm, passes to the right guy or simply swings the ball. it may not look like much but it helps gsw execute their plays/offense. that to me is just as impressive as the flashy plays because it shows he knows when to be reserved within the system and when he needs to be aggressive. different speeds.

Yea, you can tell the kid grew up playing soccer. He's got natural passing instincts. He could easily become an offensive hub as long as he keeps developing his shot. Reminds me a lot of a young Iggy.

[DAWill1128]

Watch on YouTube

[floppymoose]

kuminga appears to have a keen sense on making those "simple passes."

sometimes young guys will get too excited and do too much and force things, but kuminga will have like 3-4 possessions in a row where he catches the ball, stays calm, passes to the right guy or simply swings the ball. it may not look like much but it helps gsw execute their plays/offense. that to me is just as impressive as the flashy plays because it shows he knows when to be reserved within the system and when he needs to be aggressive. different speeds.

Kuminga was the total opposite of that his rookie year and at the beginning of this season. He was looking for the home run play each time. It's great to see that he can change his approach when he's only 20.

[B-King]

He does something every game that just impresses me. His commitment to defense is just awesome to see as that was my biggest knock on him last year. I think the Marion comparison isn't bad, but I think his ceiling might be higher.

I absolutely love his little smirk when he throws down a monster dunk. He's a a very bad bad man and he knows it.

[sonnyhill]

It was nice to see Kuminga have another good game, including sinking the 3-pt shots, last night vs the 'baby dinasours.'

Am I being overly critical by noticing and pointing out that, while he had a good game, Kuminga also had zero rebounds? This stat does not bode well for having a "complete game."

[SpreeChokeJob]

It was nice to see Kuminga have another good game, including sinking the 3-pt shots, last night vs the 'baby dinasours.'

Am I being overly critical by noticing and pointing out that, while he had a good game, Kuminga also had zero rebounds? This stat does not bode well for having a "complete game."

Do they record stats for boxing out? Because when I watching the game, he was pushing guys bigger than him out of position.

[Flash Falcon X]

kuminga appears to have a keen sense on making those "simple passes."

sometimes young guys will get too excited and do too much and force things, but kuminga will have like 3-4 possessions in a row where he catches the ball, stays calm, passes to the right guy or simply swings the ball. it may not look like much but it helps gsw execute their plays/offense. that to me is just as impressive as the flashy plays because it shows he knows when to be reserved within the system and when he needs to be aggressive. different speeds.

Kuminga was the total opposite of that his rookie year and at the beginning of this season. He was looking for the home run play each time. It's great to see that he can change his approach when he's only 20.

he’s been playing with a lot of patience and it’s paying off.