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

[whatisacenter]

Kuminga is having ups and downs just like I would expect a 19yo rookie to have. He has all the tools to be great and it's just going to take some time for him to become a more consistent player. The great thing is that he is able to figure it out while the Warriors are winning.

[Scoots1994]

I think Kawhi is a better peak comp rather than Giannis.

[shazam_guy]

Eh, we clearly should have gone "win now" with Davion Mitchell.

(Oops, forgot to press "engage green font")

[lars_rosenberg]

I think Kawhi is a better peak comp rather than Giannis.

Yes, Kuminga is very different from Giannis. He was the first comparison because both players were considered very raw coming into the draft, but had great physical gifts.
However they have different size, style of play and skills.
Kuminga is already a better shooter, but Giannis is longer and more dominant in the paint. It took a few years for Giannis to develop though, so we really have no idea of how good JK could become.
In their rookie season Michael Carter Williams looked like a better player than Giannis and look at them now...

[Big J]

Kuminga is more like a super raw Bron.

[wco81]

Noticed JK got a couple of defensive rebounds with his hands around his chest level.

They weren't contested rebounds but seems like he doesn't go aggressively for rebounds. You see Draymond and OPJ go after the ball, often grabbing the ball with both hands above their hands. Even Curry does that too, anticipates the rebound and grabs it above his head often.

Are the coaches emphasizing to him to be aggressive going after the boards?

May not be a high rebounder, especially in traffic.

[Scoots1994]

Kerr has been mentioning rebounding regularly. Saying JK should get more and praising Moody's rebounding. I think the message is being sent.

Some of Kuminga's drives are so physical, he's looking to blow people up on the way to the hoop. And his ability to score in that 3-6 foot range is better than expected.

[Big J]

Rebounding is such an overrated stat. I’d much rather see JK blocking shots and protecting the rim than pulling a Westbrook and chasing pointless rebounding numbers.

[HiRez]

Rebounding is such an overrated stat. I’d much rather see JK blocking shots and protecting the rim than pulling a Westbrook and chasing pointless rebounding numbers.

If the rebounds are being stolen by another one of your teammates, ok I guess, but if not then they're going to the other team and you just lost a possession. I don't know how that can't be important.

It's clear to me that Kuminga is currently missing the mentality of going after rebounds in the first place. He gets the ones that fall into his hands (although some of those get knocked loose), but he rarely goes after the ball proactively, either with his feet or with his hands. Which is unfortunately the same thing I see with Wiseman. He almost never follows his own shot or anyone else's shot, instead preferring to watch from the perimeter or start running back the other way before the shot even comes down. It's early and he's still learning, but I think he could do better.

One thing I've noticed lately is he's been more physical at times, swinging some elbows and using his arm and body to clear guys out of his space. Right now it's a mess and he's starting to pick up a bunch of fouls, some flagrant. But I think once he learns to control that aggression and get a little more subtle with it (like pushing a guy out of bounds right in front of the ref is not smart), it will pay dividends in both rebounding and scoring.

[Upperclass]

^ He seems to be pressing to impress more in limited time.. early on it seems he thought he'd earn more playing time organically

[Scoots1994]

Rebounding is such an overrated stat. I’d much rather see JK blocking shots and protecting the rim than pulling a Westbrook and chasing pointless rebounding numbers.

If the rebounds are being stolen by another one of your teammates, ok I guess, but if not then they're going to the other team and you just lost a possession. I don't know how that can't be important.

It's clear to me that Kuminga is currently missing the mentality of going after rebounds in the first place. He gets the ones that fall into his hands (although some of those get knocked loose), but he rarely goes after the ball proactively, either with his feet or with his hands. Which is unfortunately the same thing I see with Wiseman. He almost never follows his own shot or anyone else's shot, instead preferring to watch from the perimeter or start running back the other way before the shot even comes down. It's early and he's still learning, but I think he could do better.

One thing I've noticed lately is he's been more physical at times, swinging some elbows and using his arm and body to clear guys out of his space. Right now it's a mess and he's starting to pick up a bunch of fouls, some flagrant. But I think once he learns to control that aggression and get a little more subtle with it (like pushing a guy out of bounds right in front of the ref is not smart), it will pay dividends in both rebounding and scoring.

It's not that it's not important, but I do agree that it's over-rated. Offensive rebounding is more important than defensive because it's taking a possession from the other team and it's relatively rare and a bit more of a specialized skill, but statistically a missed shot is much more likely to go to the defensive team and the players who get big defensive rebounding numbers are largely because of scheme not skill. There are always outliers but generally speaking defensive rebounding numbers are over-rated.

On Kuminga he fairly clearly doesn't know his role from minute to minute and he doesn't really get the defensive and offensive rotations yet. The good thing is he's getting better at it fairly quickly and his natural game is showing in extended flashes which is a positive to his confidence.

[wco81]

In small lineups, they need everyone to come in and help gang rebound.

McKinnie used to crash in from the corner and get offensive rebounds because he was either unguarded or they put a weak defender on him.

JK isn't getting big defensive attention yet. That is why he's getting good 3 point looks.

So he should be able to crash a little.

[Big J]

I think we need to use him as a free safety and let him roam around more and get steals and blocks like what the Bucks do with Giannis.

[The-Power]

Read on Twitter

Probably part of the reason why he's on a relatively short leash. He's an All-NBA talent if he wants to be and approaches the game in the right way – glad they're guiding him and that he seems to respond well.

[TheZachAttack]

I like the Giannis comp after watching a lot of his highlights for his game right now. I think it’s possible he develops in a more perimeter orientated direction but he I think his best action right now is when he’s moving without the ball either as a cutter or as a screen and roller and he forces defenses to react to him moving downhill towards the basket.

He’s unstoppable in those types of actions similar to Giannis.

[Scoots1994]

Read on Twitter

Probably part of the reason why he's on a relatively short leash. He's an All-NBA talent if he wants to be and approaches the game in the right way – glad they're guiding him and that he seems to respond well.

I love Dray. I love how other teams and fans hate him for the pure level of noise he spouts on the court, but dude is all about team and is SMART on and off the court.

[floppymoose]

Kumungous is rolling!

[EvanZ]

Can we all agree to never call him The Human Helicopter? For the love of Christ

[shazam_guy]

Here's the cool thing. He may be another lots of things, but he also may be the Jonathan Kuminga that they compare other young players to in the years ahead. His future is that up in the air, mostly in very good ways.

I'm not convinced yet he's another Giannis or LeBron or any of the highest possibilities that get cited, but he's definitely a bit of a unicorn and it's going to be way fun to see what he actually becomes as he matures.

PS I don't particularly like "Human Helicopter" either, but it beats all the cheap "Kum" jokes, which got old really fast. I'm holding out for a better and more natural nickname to evolve. My current favorite: "Krush". I also like "Death From Above". (I admit I made them both up.)

[xdrta+]

Why does everyone need a nickname? Jonathan sounds good to me.