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

[SpreeChokeJob]

I was so happy that he fell to number 7. I was afraid this team wouldn’t be able to get him. Predraft I had him for my number one pick. Happy he’s turning the corner and making my belief in him worthwhile. Also satisfying seeing the people who doubted him with eggs on their faces as well.

Edit: Warriors should really try getting Hakeem to work with him in the offseason. He really has a lot in common in terms of footwork.

[Sleepy51]

Not many guys his size can get 7 assists without even trying. When Kuminga is locked in he's the 2nd most talented guy on our roster.

Go
Back and check out Artest on the pacers before the brawl. It’s the same player but not crazy. We hit the jackpot

[superunknown]

but he needs to start to improve his shooting.
not necessarily from 3, but he needs to have at least 1 reliable dart in his arsenal, 1 safe blanket to rely offensively. can be from midrange too. and he needs to elevate his FTs %. especially if he's going to draw fouls attacking the rim and go to the FT line more often moving forward.
a couple of post-up moves wouldn't hurt as well.

[Sleepy51]

His offense will mature in time. What makes him special is that he is one of those rare players who has the ability to not just force the ball out of his opponents hands, but to actually INITIATE defensive stops for the team. His initiative on defense makes it easier for teammates to defend because he leaves the offense with fewer choices. It totally reverses the normal basketball equation where the offense is forcing the defense to make undesirable choices and now it’s the offense on their heels trying to decide between plans B,C and D. It’s the infancy of what Draymond does.

We are rapidly approaching the point where the 2nd unit will need to learn to adjust on the fly to him and change up switches and schemes to let him attack the ball when he sees the weakness. The good news is he’s already a communicator on D. He was out there getting stops in a defensive unit with Klank, J Poo and JMG ffs.

Draymond came in with four years of seasoning under a defensive/work ethic minded D1 program JK is a re-classed high schooler who played for the ignite. He is WAY ahead of the curve as an impact defender.

[HiRez]

but he needs to start to improve his shooting.
not necessarily from 3, but he needs to have at least 1 reliable dart in his arsenal, 1 safe blanket to rely offensively. can be from midrange too. and he needs to elevate his FTs %. especially if he's going to draw fouls attacking the rim and go to the FT line more often moving forward.
a couple of post-up moves wouldn't hurt as well.

Right now Kuminga is shooting more 3s than last year, but at much lower efficiency. 36% of his shot attempts are 3s, which I think is way too high since he's shooting 24% from there. Last year he shot 34% from 3 and it only accounted for 32% of his shot attempts, a much better balance. But Kuminga seems to be a guy who benefits greatly from extended playing time and all those short stints and fast Kerr hooks early in the season messed with him mentally and prevented him from getting a rhythm going, so hopefully those numbers can meet or exceed last year's with more PT. If Kuminga can get to 35% from 3 (again, he got close to that last year), that should be enough to open up his whole game although I really like him going downhill to the rim a lot better and don't want to see him fall in love with his 3 point shot to the point where he's standing around on the line waiting to jack it up. Definitely agree about the importance of the FT%, he's already shown an ability to get to the line frequently (very impressive for someone so young as they rarely get those calls) so that could be the difference between MVP and Hack-A-Kum someday.

[Big J]

Not many guys his size can get 7 assists without even trying. When Kuminga is locked in he's the 2nd most talented guy on our roster.

Go
Back and check out Artest on the pacers before the brawl. It’s the same player but not crazy. We hit the jackpot

This is a good comp. I'd argue that Kuminga is an even more fluid mover. Artest would always look stiff and a bit robotic when he moved. Kuminga moves more like a ballerina. I'm guessing he played soccer a lot as a youth.

[HiRez]

Not many guys his size can get 7 assists without even trying. When Kuminga is locked in he's the 2nd most talented guy on our roster.

Go
Back and check out Artest on the pacers before the brawl. It’s the same player but not crazy. We hit the jackpot

This is a good comp. I'd argue that Kuminga is an even more fluid mover. Artest would always look stiff and a bit robotic when he moved. Kuminga moves more like a ballerina. I'm guessing he played soccer a lot as a youth.

That's why I call him The Panther, he's kind of...slinky. That's his superpower, being able to move through defenders (preferably without dribbling at that point), and sometimes he actually underutilizes it by slowing down or stopping on drives when with a quick strike without hesitation, he could often split defenders and get to the rim, or draw contact.

[Flash Falcon X]

On a random note, Kuminga's footwork on offense is nice, even early in his rookie year. He would often do some wild spin move in the paint and with him being a rookie you would expect him to shuffle his feet and get called for a travel, but he's always in control and aware of his feet.

As he gains more experience he'll become a go-to scorer in the paint. He just needs patience because Kerr's offense doesn't really favor isolations and is more about movement and spot up shooting... but over time he'll be given the opportunity to make some plays where you can give him the ball and let him do his thing. So helpful in stretches where the team's jumpshots aren't going in.

[floppymoose]

Watch on YouTube

[Flash Falcon X]

On a random note, Kuminga's footwork on offense is nice, even early in his rookie year. He would often do some wild spin move in the paint and with him being a rookie you would expect him to shuffle his feet and get called for a travel, but he's always in control and aware of his feet.

As he gains more experience he'll become a go-to scorer in the paint. He just needs patience because Kerr's offense doesn't really favor isolations and is more about movement and spot up shooting... but over time he'll be given the opportunity to make some plays where you can give him the ball and let him do his thing. So helpful in stretches where the team's jumpshots aren't going in.

Here's a great example of that from last night's win against Boston.

Kuminga dunking on Tatum.

JK gets into a triple threat position and hits a few jab steps, then he does the wild spin move I mentioned before, he actually gets fouled afterward but the refs don't blow the whistle, then JK dunks on Tatum anyway.

Watch on YouTube

Another great move in Kuminga's arsenal is his pump fakes. He makes great use of his footwork and combines it with pump fakes which throws off his defender at times. In the play above, I believe Kuminga was going to pump fake right after the spin, but his arms got held by Tatum and should have been called a foul.

Kuminga is so quick and athletic he can do this starting from outside the 3 point line. Sometimes he'll get the ball in the perimeter and he'll aggressively slash to the paint before spinning and unleashing his repertoire of moves near the rim.

Call me crazy but his game resembles Zion Williamson, just not as dominant, obviously.

[SpreeChokeJob]

He already has some assortment of moves. The only go to move that he doesn’t have is against someone bigger than him from standstill once he stopped his dribble. He has since recognized that situation and passes out when he is in trouble. If he developed the dream shake or hook shot that would be helpful when he is stopped in the paint and there is no one to pass it to with time running out.

[HiRez]

Loving the progression this kid is showing, his biggest issue right now is processing speed, he gets in trouble when he hesitates or overthinks things. But showing a lot of progress there too, he’ll be ferocious once his moves become less mechanical and more instinctual. This is why I’ve been on Kerr to play him more since the beginning of the season, the only way you get more instinctual is by seeing more of the game, avoiding what doesn’t work, and repeating what works.

Dubs with Kuminga: 19-16 (.543)
Without Kuminga: 4-8 (.333)

I haven’t done the calculations but I suspect winning correlates even more strongly when he plays 15+ or 20+ minutes (and probably more later in the season as he’s gotten better).

[SpreeChokeJob]

He’s almost there. He just needs some finesse moves in the paint, bump stop and pop, fadeaway, or hook shot. He can be something the Warriors never had for some time, an interior scorer and passer who can draw a double team. If he can create interior gravity things will get easier for the three point shooters and they can work out in out and make things a nightmare for defenders.

[Flash Falcon X]

kuminga had an interview with shams and he wants to be the best defender in the league within 5 years. takes a lot of pride on defense. draymond also acknowledged how kuminga loves to pick up the opposing guards. kuminga mentioned draymond doesn't give credit/love like that so easily and kuminga had to first earn draymond's respect to gain that kind of praise.

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.

[Coxy]

kuminga had an interview with shams and he wants to be the best defender in the league within 5 years.

[HiRez]

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.

[osx28]

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.

[Sleepy51]

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.

[osx28]

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.

Ron artest is an excellent comp, wish I had thought of that! With the added bonus of a less volatile personality.

[ILOVEIT]

The team looks much more physical with him on the floor.
Wiggins + Kuminga + Draymond defensively ...