He’s nonetheless on the market as a free agent, nonetheless unsigned — an athletic ahead who has the flexibility to do a little bit of every thing, and the NBA is ready for him to determine which group he’ll find yourself signing with this summer season.
No, we’re not speaking about LeBron James, though he does match that description. We’re speaking about Jonathan Kuminga.
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It has been reported that the Los Angeles Lakers proceed to pursue Kuminga. If the Lakers are to land him, it must be by means of a sign-and-trade deal, and the query is what the Atlanta Hawks, Kuminga’s final group, will ask for and the way a lot cash Kuminga and his agent will demand on a new contract.
But in fact, with Kuminga, the query has at all times been about his intangibles. Per Sean Deveney of Heavy Sports, one NBA assistant coach warned that if Los Angeles acquires Kuminga, it will not be gaining a lot.
“He is athletic, he has talent and he is still only 23,” the coach mentioned. “But we saw him a lot before he came in and early in his career. And now, if you watch him, it is hard to find one thing that he has really gotten better at. Rebounding, maybe, he is a little better as as rebounder. But shooting? No. Defense? No. Ballhandling, play-making, any of that, you just never saw an area where it was like, ‘Oh, he added that to his game.’
“They wanted him to find a role and get great at it, and it just did not happen. You just hope somewhere along the line, that gets through to him because the talent is there.”
Kuminga got here into the NBA because the No. 7 decide within the 2021 draft. People have at all times seen All-Star-level potential in him and the flexibility to be a difference-making two-way wing, however he hasn’t made measurable strides in direction of getting there.
He has nearly at all times been a subpar 3-point shooter, and whereas he has all of the instruments to grow to be a nice defender, his protection tends to return and go for no matter purpose.
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This previous season, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who would not precisely appear to be the toughest coach for gamers to get together with, benched Kuminga. The Warriors later traded him to the Hawks, and whereas he had some flashes of high quality play with the Hawks, they have not appeared very motivated to maintain him.
The Lakers’ closing roster want is an athletic beginning two-way wing or ahead. If Kuminga have been to affix him, maybe he would change his methods and fill that want. But it would not appear possible that it’s going to occur.
This article initially appeared on LeBron Wire: NBA assistant coach gives Lakers a warning about Jonathan Kuminga