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The Golden State Warriors will have to make some tough decisions in the foreseeable future regarding some of their young talent. Jonathan Kuminga has been a name to watch, as the 21-year-old could be in a package to help land a win-now player.
Kuminga finally saw a consistent role a year ago and improved, but Dan Favale of Bleacher Report believes he’s the most overrated player in the NBA right now. He ranked the five most overrated players in the NBA on July 22, ranking Kuminga at No. 1 just three days after he questioned his impact in an episode of “Hardwood Knocks.”
“I’m just at the point where I think he might be one of the most overrated players in the NBA. And I don’t mean that as an insult,” Favale said on July 19.
“But we’re talking about him as if he almost has this Mikal Bridges-type of non-star value. I see the vision with him. But as of right now, I don’t trust the jumper. I don’t trust his ability to generate his own shot unless he’s in space. And the defense is kind of just all over the place.”
Warriors Could Be Responsible for His Limitations
Before the 2023-24 season, Kuminga had only started in a combined 28 games in his first two seasons and was often in and out of the rotation. Last year, he played 26.3 minutes per game and started in 46 of the 74 games he made an appearance in.
Favale wrote that the Golden State Warriors could be responsible for some of his limitations as a player, as they never gave him too big of an opportunity to grow as a player.
“To what end Golden State’s responsible for Kuminga’s enduring limitations is debatable. He did not have what you’d call a consistent role until last season,” Favale wrote. “And make no mistake, the per-minute production leaps off the page.
“But this idea that he’s cornerstone material, both inside and outside the Warriors organization, is bizarre. Maybe he will get there one day. I hope he does. He’s not there yet.”
The idea of Kuminga being cornerstone material is due to his age and what he showed for the Warriors last season. In his first year with real minutes, he averaged 16.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, and shot 52.9% from the field on 11.6 attempts per game.
Warriors Haven’t Included Kuminga in Markkanen Trade Packages
The Golden State Warriors have shown heavy interest in Lauri Markkanen, but they haven’t offered Kuminga in any trade package for the All-Star forward, according to Marc Stein of Substack.
“To this point, however, it must be noted that Golden State’s offers for Markkanen have centered around a package featuring Moses Moody and draft compensation without including Podziemski or Kuminga,” Stein wrote on July 21.
Not offering him in a trade for Markkanen was part of the reason why Favale called Kuminga overrated, saying that “it’s not really a choice” between him and Markkanen.
“I’ve just reached a point where part of me understands why they’d want to keep him out of this [Markkanen] deal. But the other part of me is just, like, if it’s Jonathan Kuminga or Lauri Markkanen, it’s not really a choice,” Favale said.
Markkanen averaged 23.2 points per game last season while shooting 39.9% from 3-point range on 8.0 attempts per game, once again showing why he’d be a perfect fit for the Warriors offense. He’s a proven star, something Kuminga hasn’t proven to be just yet.
