Joe Lacob “Force Driving” to draw up Jonathan Kuminga, for report – NBC Sports Bay Area and California
While the free agency saga of Jonathan Kuminga continues with the Warriors, it was revealed that some within the organization would have preferred to select a different player with choice n. 7 in the NBA Draft of 2021.
“Some” members of the technical staff of the Warriors expressed the preference to the possible striker of Orlando Magic Franz Wagner instead of Kuminga, but reported the owner of the golden state Joe Lacob, reported the “driving force” behind the selection of the Congolese attacker, reported Anthony Slater and Shams Charania, citing sources, in a piece published on Monday. Wagner was drawn up a choice later by Orlando with selection n. 8.
“Lacob remained a convinced supporter of Kuminga and vocal believer in his long -term future,” wrote Slater and Charania. “He expressed the reluctance to include Kuminga in a commerce proposal from Chicago for Alex Caruso a couple of seasons, said sources, and was still shining for Kuminga’s performance in May after he climbed from outside the rotation of the first round of Steve Kerr to the main marker of the team in the loss of the second lap of the Minnesota Timberwolves.”
Despite having been written back-to-back, the two attackers have had very different experiences in their four years of NBA service.
In Four Seasons with the Magic, Wagner played 291 games and was in Orlando starting from five for each game he played. On the contrary, Kuminga played 258 games of the regular season with the Warriors and started only 84.
Wagner signed a five-year contract from $ 224 million with Orlando before the NBA 2024-25 season. According to reports, Golden State offered a three -year $ 75.2 million contract in Kuminga.
The use of Kuminga oscillated during his four -year career with the Warriors. In the 2023-24 season, he recorded 26.3 minutes of career per game and played in 74 of the 82 games of the regular season. That number saw a descent to 24.3 minutes per game last season, while fought injuries and rotation changes while it appears in just 47 games, a minimum of career.
The 22 -year -old limited the game time of the free agent under the coach Steve Kerr has undergone his greatest success after the Warriors acquired Jimmy Butler from Miami Heat at the commercial expiry of the NBA in February.
Kuminga played in just three of the seven games in the NBA playoff series in the first round against the Houston Rockets. This has changed in the next series, while it broke out in the semifinals of the Western Conference against the Timberwolves largely due to the knee tendon of the superstar Stephen Curry in the game 1 at Minnesota.
In the absence of curry, Kuminga was the top scorer of the Warriors in the series, with an average of 20.8 points per game.
An obstacle to the new signature of Jonathan Kuminga for warriors is the question of a substantial role for the striker, a key concern for Kuminga and his field in the free agency according to Slater and Charania.
On the other hand, there was no doubt about Wagner’s role with magic. Last season, the striker scored on average 24.2 points per game, the second most for the magic behind the NBA All-Star Paolo Banchero striker.
Unlike Kuminga, Wagner did not face much competition for the minutes of rotation at the beginning of his career. In their beginner seasons, Orlando closed with a record of 22-60, the second place of the NBA in the 2021-22 season. On the contrary, the Warriors continued to win the NBA finals in that season, a team much more difficult to play for the minutes of vital rotation for a new.
Although there was little difference in their draft position, there is a great gulf between Kuminga and Wagner in terms of contract size and team role in their young careers.
Download and follow the Podcast Dubs Talk