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

[Onus]

If kuminga could shoot he could play the 3. Hopefully down the line he can. But this year he’s most likely playing as a 4 or a 5.

Same thought. He can't shoot to save his life right now...but the form doesn't look bad and he has the range. If he can smooth out the consistency he becomes much more dangerous.

Players shooting under 30% from 3 can play SF in the NBA. Position is more about defense than offense. Kuminga is going to be best setup to defend SFs. Kuminga will struggle more defending 5s and 4s than 3s

Players shooting under 30% from 3 rarely play the 3 in today’s game. Can you name any 3 that shoots under 30% from 3 and gets actual playing time?

That’s like saying draymonds best position is a 4. His best position is 5 but he’s too damn short to play the 5 for a full season. There’s multiple reasons his best position is a 5 but one of the main ones is because he can’t shoot so him playing the 5 makes it so that there’s better space on offense. But draymond doesn’t defend 5s the best.

I guess Curry plays the 3 since he’s usually guarding the other teams 3s.

[floppymoose]

JK reminds me of Mikael Pietrus.

Watch on YouTube

[and1GS]

If kuminga could shoot he could play the 3. Hopefully down the line he can. But this year he’s most likely playing as a 4 or a 5.

Same thought. He can't shoot to save his life right now...but the form doesn't look bad and he has the range. If he can smooth out the consistency he becomes much more dangerous.

Players shooting under 30% from 3 can play SF in the NBA. Position is more about defense than offense. Kuminga is going to be best setup to defend SFs. Kuminga will struggle more defending 5s and 4s than 3s

My comment was on being more dangerous, not if he can play the 3 at all - 100% agree he can do that today.

But man, if he had proper offensive range then kept up the same defensive effort we've seen? That's a gem of a player even in year 1.

[and1GS]

JK reminds me of Mikael Pietrus.

Watch on YouTube

Pietrus was a basketball idiot that played like a robot. If there's one thing Kuminga can actually do on offense right now, it's getting creative to fluidly drive to the basket.

[SAKURABA216]

Would anyone here be willing to trade Kuminga for Jalen Johnson or Davion Mitchell?

[Mob Byers]

Would anyone here be willing to trade Kuminga for Jalen Johnson or Davion Mitchell?

No I wouldn't trade Giannis for James Johnson or Jevon Carter

[Twinkie defense]

Would anyone here be willing to trade Kuminga for Jalen Johnson or Davion Mitchell?

I'm not too high on Kuminga. I think the Warriors took a flier on potential and I've seen too much potential go bust. When I see things like disinterested on defense, needs to try harder (paraphrasing here) those are big red flags for me.

Davion Mitchell is my guy, 100%, and he keeps proving it on the court where it matters.

[whatisacenter]

Would anyone here be willing to trade Kuminga for Jalen Johnson or Davion Mitchell?

Nope.

as much as I like JJ I would still rather hold on to Kuminga to see his potential. I think JK has the chance to be pretty special.

Davion is ok, I don't see him having the same impact in the NBA as he had in summer league.

[shazam_guy]

I haven't heard "disinterested on defense" about Kuminga and haven't seen it. And "needs to try harder"? That's like the opposite of Kuminga's game -- he's all energy. And to the last point, neither Kuminga or Davion Mitchell have proved a single thing yet in the NBA, which is what we're talking about. Kuminga didn't go to college, so there's no point of comparison before Summer League, and in SL Mitchell looked like exactly what everyone said -- a good low-ceiling player, very good on-ball defender, okay point guard and shooter.

[GunnerWRX]

Mitchell is already 22. Kuminga has 4 years to learn before he is 22. No guarantee that he won't be a bust, but a 4 year difference is quite a lot especially for an athlete from 18 to 22.

[FNQ]

Would anyone here be willing to trade Kuminga for Jalen Johnson or Davion Mitchell?

Wouldnt for both of them

JJ's problems are mental, and lets see how he does with any bit of NBA adversity before buying stock

Mitchell is a small PG and while he should be a fine player, presents a huge fit problem

No thanks

[SAKURABA216]

Would anyone here be willing to trade Kuminga for Jalen Johnson or Davion Mitchell?

Wouldnt for both of them

JJ's problems are mental, and lets see how he does with any bit of NBA adversity before buying stock

Mitchell is a small PG and while he should be a fine player, presents a huge fit problem

No thanks

I respect your opinion, its just that Jalen Johnson and Davion Mitchell could both have pretty clear roles for us whereas I don't really know when the team would have Kuminga come into games. Jalen Johnson is athletic and shoots well enough from 3 that he could be our backup SF or PF while Mitchell can be our backup PG and could even play alongside Steph during stretches. However, I don't know if I would ever want to bring in Kuminga over guys like Iggy, OPJ, or JTA because his 3 point shot is suspect and he relies on a high-usage rate to put up his numbers.

[FNQ]

Would anyone here be willing to trade Kuminga for Jalen Johnson or Davion Mitchell?

Wouldnt for both of them

JJ's problems are mental, and lets see how he does with any bit of NBA adversity before buying stock

Mitchell is a small PG and while he should be a fine player, presents a huge fit problem

No thanks

I respect your opinion, its just that Jalen Johnson and Davion Mitchell could both have pretty clear roles for us whereas I don't really know when the team would have Kuminga come into games. Jalen Johnson is athletic and shoots well enough from 3 that he could be our backup SF or PF while Mitchell can be our backup PG and could even play alongside Steph during stretches. However, I don't know if I would ever want to bring in Kuminga over guys like Iggy, OPJ, or JTA because his 3 point shot is suspect and he relies on a high-usage rate to put up his numbers.

Kuminga slides into the Paschall role pretty nicely. The role disappeared only because EP just struggled mightily and didnt play defense or get anyone else involved. But Kuminga goes right into the iso role there. Dont really care what position you call it, 3/4/5, but I see no problem with his fit. He should have 10-15mpg right off the bat to see how well he can do in that role too

He's not going to get every touch like he did in SL, so he'll have more to do on defense.. so I'd expect to see him guarding 4s to start, possibly 3s if OPJ isn't all the way back yet

[thunderdunk]

Would anyone here be willing to trade Kuminga for Jalen Johnson or Davion Mitchell?

I may be totally wrong on this, but yes. I still think Mitchell is a better fit with what the Dubs need, and while he doesn't have a stratospheric potential upside like JK, he also doesn't have the same downside.

Anybody remember when the Dubs essentially traded Parish and McHale for the enormous upside potential of Joe Barry Carroll?

The Dubs lost the finals in 2016 because they needed a decent backup center and they didn't have one. Will they lose in 2022 because they don't have a decent backup point guard?

[GQ Hot Dog]

Wouldnt for both of them

JJ's problems are mental, and lets see how he does with any bit of NBA adversity before buying stock

Mitchell is a small PG and while he should be a fine player, presents a huge fit problem

No thanks

I respect your opinion, its just that Jalen Johnson and Davion Mitchell could both have pretty clear roles for us whereas I don't really know when the team would have Kuminga come into games. Jalen Johnson is athletic and shoots well enough from 3 that he could be our backup SF or PF while Mitchell can be our backup PG and could even play alongside Steph during stretches. However, I don't know if I would ever want to bring in Kuminga over guys like Iggy, OPJ, or JTA because his 3 point shot is suspect and he relies on a high-usage rate to put up his numbers.

Kuminga slides into the Paschall role pretty nicely. The role disappeared only because EP just struggled mightily and didnt play defense or get anyone else involved. But Kuminga goes right into the iso role there. Dont really care what position you call it, 3/4/5, but I see no problem with his fit. He should have 10-15mpg right off the bat to see how well he can do in that role too

He's not going to get every touch like he did in SL, so he'll have more to do on defense.. so I'd expect to see him guarding 4s to start, possibly 3s if OPJ isn't all the way back yet

For me, Kuminga is our power finisher. We've never had one of those during all the dynasty years. And I'm not talking about a big center roll man so much as an athletic forward/slasher a la Giannis obviously but also guys like Siakam, Collins, Aaron Gordon(what he was supposed to be), Isaac, even Zion. It's why I was so hopeful Oubre would work out last season and why I was so unconcerned when we moved on from him this season.

When was the last time prior to Oubre and now Kuminga that we had a legit above the rim athletic forward? Rookie Webber? I know Barnes was drafted to be that but I was always disappointed in his athleticism. It took him forever to gather and get off the ground, his hops never took anyone by surprise. Remember the Warriors holding on to James Michael McAdoo for way too long to see if he could become that guy?

[RichmondWarrior]

Would you guys have taken Jalen Johnson at 14 after seeing his play in summer league, or would you still have taken Moody?

[FNQ]

I respect your opinion, its just that Jalen Johnson and Davion Mitchell could both have pretty clear roles for us whereas I don't really know when the team would have Kuminga come into games. Jalen Johnson is athletic and shoots well enough from 3 that he could be our backup SF or PF while Mitchell can be our backup PG and could even play alongside Steph during stretches. However, I don't know if I would ever want to bring in Kuminga over guys like Iggy, OPJ, or JTA because his 3 point shot is suspect and he relies on a high-usage rate to put up his numbers.

Kuminga slides into the Paschall role pretty nicely. The role disappeared only because EP just struggled mightily and didnt play defense or get anyone else involved. But Kuminga goes right into the iso role there. Dont really care what position you call it, 3/4/5, but I see no problem with his fit. He should have 10-15mpg right off the bat to see how well he can do in that role too

He's not going to get every touch like he did in SL, so he'll have more to do on defense.. so I'd expect to see him guarding 4s to start, possibly 3s if OPJ isn't all the way back yet

For me, Kuminga is our power finisher. We've never had one of those during all the dynasty years. And I'm not talking about a big center roll man so much as an athletic forward/slasher a la Giannis obviously but also guys like Siakam, Collins, Aaron Gordon(what he was supposed to be), Isaac, even Zion. It's why I was so hopeful Oubre would work out last season and why I was so unconcerned when we moved on from him this season.

When was the last time prior to Oubre and now Kuminga that we had a legit above the rim athletic forward? Rookie Webber? I know Barnes was drafted to be that but I was always disappointed in his athleticism. It took him forever to gather and get off the ground, his hops never took anyone by surprise. Remember the Warriors holding on to James Michael McAdoo for way too long to see if he could become that guy?

I see it, and its rare to get one of those guys with a functioning basketball brain. Kuminga might have that, he certainly has the spirit in that he's passing and trying hard on defense. And his athleticism, unlike Barnes, is much more functional. Or at least appears that way, we'll have to see if being in the actual NBA changes things for him. Summer League is built for one on one athletes to get some experience, it has very little to do with team basketball and carries the weight of a glorified pro-Am to me

[watch1958]

Would you guys have taken Jalen Johnson at 14 after seeing his play in summer league, or would you still have taken Moody?

Good question. But I think I’d take Moody. I’m no great talent evaluator, but there was something about Johnson in Summer League that seemed off. Even with the great numbers.

But what do I know?

[weekend_warrior]

Would anyone here be willing to trade Kuminga for Jalen Johnson or Davion Mitchell?

I may be totally wrong on this, but yes. I still think Mitchell is a better fit with what the Dubs need, and while he doesn't have a stratospheric potential upside like JK, he also doesn't have the same downside.

Anybody remember when the Dubs essentially traded Parish and McHale for the enormous upside potential of Joe Barry Carroll?

The Dubs lost the finals in 2016 because they needed a decent backup center and they didn't have one. Will they lose in 2022 because they don't have a decent backup point guard?

Injuries excluded I think you will be proven to be totally wrong on this indeed. Mitchell is a slightly better GP2 at this point. Pesky defender that can hit the 3, but lacks the cerebral offensive game (creativity, finishing, passing) to be a main ball handler and is limited by his size on the defensive end. The FT-shooting remains a big question mark for his overall shooting to translate (in Summer League he hit a lower % on FTs than on 3s).

If Kuminga was to focus on the simple things that are his strengths right now (man defense, rebounding, pushing the ball in transition, cutting to the basket) he would be more impactful than Mitchell right away imho (already by being much bigger). But then you don't want to have him embrace the mindset of a role player entirely.

[floppymoose]

The Warriors lost the 2016 finals because a <100% Steph Curry could not shake off Kevin Love at the 3-point line. If Curry had been fully healthy, game over.

Also,the Warriors were AT the 2016 finals because they drafted Curry, and because they did not trade Curry in some kind of win-now effort.