Stand and be counted: Trade Kuminga for Zion?

[DAWill1128]

Whats the thought process in keeping Kuminga under the current predicament? We are in 11th place, we have no shot at contending out West as constructed. We probably miss the playoffs.

So after this year you want to give Kuminga a 35+ million dollar 4 year deal? He is not an All-Star, that is one reason not to agree to that. The second is his long term outlook positionally. He is really undersized for a power forward. He cannot shoot well enough to play small forward. He is not a great defender. If you sign him to that deal even if he makes some improvements the vets will still be on the decline and you will be a play in caliber team next year.

If you want to sign Kuminga and do a complete rebuild then fine. Let him put up a ton of shots on a lottery team for the duration of his contract. The team will not win, but his dunks are a seat filler.

Your other option is you sign him to create a large enough salary slot to trade him for a bigger fish. So you would be trading him either for a flawed young guy who is better (Zion) or a guy at the very end of his career (Jimmy). You are kind of in the same situation right? Just delaying the inevitable.

[GQ Hot Dog]

this thread backfire on you huh champ lol

It looks like it's 50/50.

OP was asking a question to have a conversation and I don't get the impression he was hoping everyone agrees with him.

he made the thread because he's been butthurt at me for a while and wanted to prove me wrong when I said I'm not the only one who wants zion

Feel free to stuff whatever garbage your ego demands be stuffed into this conversation. Discussing hoops is not a competitive sport. But by all means, you keep fighting the good fight.

[HiRez]

I'm a big fan of Kuminga's but yeah, I'd move him for Zion if necessary, especially if it means few or no picks need go out.

Those of you saying Kuminga is better than Zion right now...let me know when Kuminga puts up 24 pts, 14 reb, 6 ast, 3 blk in 23 minutes, which was Zion's most recent game.

Of course no one really knows if Zion is available at all, or what the price would be. I'm not trading away everything for him given the risks, but if you have a chance to acquire a 24-year-old legit superstar under circumstances when his asking price may be relatively low, you have to explore it.

[Mac1958]

Zion is about as injury-prone as it gets.

I don't get the attraction.

[whatisacenter]

Zion is about as injury-prone as it gets.

I don't get the attraction.

For me it’s a “why not”.

I don’t think this team is going anywhere, it would be a buy low moment, and his contract has safeguards.

If it meant moving Draymond to get him it would be a bonus for me.

[TrueFan420]

This is a pointless question, we can’t trade Kuminga for Zion straight up.

[HiRez]

This is a pointless question, we can’t trade Kuminga for Zion straight up.

I don't think anyone is saying or implying that. You have to give up something of value, whether that be draft picks or players, so it's a question of is sacrificing Kuminga as PART of a trade desirable/acceptable. They could make up the salary difference with either Draymond or Wiggins as a main piece, or a bunch of smaller contracts like Schröder/Slowmo, but then you have problems with balancing the number of players on the rosters.

Like Wiggs/Dray + Kuminga + Schröder (+ pick?) for Zion + Hawkins should work financially (although if Draymond goes — which is unlikely — he's probably rerouted to a third team).

[watch1958]

No. I don’t trust his health or motor, nor Kerr’s ability to figure him out.

I’m agnostic on trading Kuminga in general.

[Coxy]

I'd give this idea a crack, in a sign and trade scenario at the end of the season 1 for 1.

If we're adding in Wiggins and more to make it work, no thanks.

[Crazy-Canuck]

Sign and trade jk + tjd for zion next year.

36M zion for a 35M+ jk. No need to add wiggins or dray.

Steph, podz or heild, Wiggins, zion, and dray (or post, if dray transitions to an iggy role).

[superunknown]

Whats the thought process in keeping Kuminga under the current predicament? We are in 11th place, we have no shot at contending out West as constructed. We probably miss the playoffs.

So after this year you want to give Kuminga a 35+ million dollar 4 year deal? He is not an All-Star, that is one reason not to agree to that. The second is his long term outlook positionally. He is really undersized for a power forward. He cannot shoot well enough to play small forward. He is not a great defender. If you sign him to that deal even if he makes some improvements the vets will still be on the decline and you will be a play in caliber team next year.

If you want to sign Kuminga and do a complete rebuild then fine. Let him put up a ton of shots on a lottery team for the duration of his contract. The team will not win, but his dunks are a seat filler.

Your other option is you sign him to create a large enough salary slot to trade him for a bigger fish. So you would be trading him either for a flawed young guy who is better (Zion) or a guy at the very end of his career (Jimmy). You are kind of in the same situation right? Just delaying the inevitable.

this.
to me, the ONLY reason to give kuminga a 35+ million dollars deal is to "recreate" that large enough slot that was wasted when they let paul walk off for NOTHING. you basically extend him for 35Mx4 and then you trade him for a bigger fish without having to gut the rest of the roster (wiggins + other 2-3 players).
of course this requires having either a sign & trade deal already in place with a team or some players in the trade market that you know you can acquire by sending kuminga back.
he cannot be a medium or long-term plan for this franchise either way, but he can definitely be another DLo.
and well, it's not necessarily a flawed young guy like zion or a old geezer like jimmy bucket, you can get lavine or similar as well.

[ILOVEIT]

If Zion didn't have massive issues staying on the court....it would be a no-brainer. Yes. But he has played at best half of the games. Fat, injured...whatever.

No for me.

[Twinkie defense]

TBH I'm not that big on either of these guys...

[TrueFan420]

This is a pointless question, we can’t trade Kuminga for Zion straight up.

I don't think anyone is saying or implying that. You have to give up something of value, whether that be draft picks or players, so it's a question of is sacrificing Kuminga as PART of a trade desirable/acceptable. They could make up the salary difference with either Draymond or Wiggins as a main piece, or a bunch of smaller contracts like Schröder/Slowmo, but then you have problems with balancing the number of players on the rosters.

Like Wiggs/Dray + Kuminga + Schröder (+ pick?) for Zion + Hawkins should work financially (although if Draymond goes — which is unlikely — he's probably rerouted to a third team).

If Wiggins or Dray are involved then Kuminga isnt really the main piece. I don’t think there’s a viable trade with a bunch of smaller contracts. Just don’t see teams trade 10 plus players. It’s just not a realistic conversation. If we’re talking about them purely as who’s better it’s obviously Zion his issue isn’t talent or production when he plays. The issue is he just doesn’t play much and clearly doesn’t prioritize basketball.