Kuminga is officially a wolf

[Monster]

My personal favorite is Green for Jalen Smith…

That would be a home run

I was thinking the exact same thing. But the Bulls can’t be that daft. Perhaps a more realistic swap would be Green for Zach Collins.

Collins signed an extension with the Bulls so I don't think they would move him for Green and I'd guess he can't be traded for a while. They have a somewhat similar player Okoro (that's cheaper than Green) so I'm not sure adding Green would make sense for them.

There have been a few different bench players moved around the last couple weeks. I'd guess teams aren't wildly tied to those guys. There might be a team interested in dealing for Green while the Wolves take on a cheaper player or players. There have been a couple injuries lately too which might make those teams have more interest in Green.

[Monster]

So far most people have compared Kuminga to Randle which does make quite a bit of sense as both guys are uneven 3 point shooters and more of attacking off the dribble guys.

I thought it would be interesting to compare Kuminga's per 36 numbers with Naz Reid. There are obvious differences including the 3 point shooting. Their true Shooting is very similar. One thing Kuminga does that Naz Reid doesn't is get to the FT line at a higher rate. Rebounding is actually comparable. Defense? Both guys I have sole questions about although I think Naz has kept getting better there. Kuminga isn't the floor spacer that makes as much sense as Naz but he does have the ability to score and handle the ball.

So in some ways if you were really excited about Naz Reid playing the PF spot Kuminga is a player 3 years younger than Naz that brings scoring athletic ability getting to the FT line and some real defensive potential. He is sort of somewhere in between Randle and Naz while being much younger than both. I don't think Kuminga is gonna be getting the ball as much as Randle but I do think he will get it as much as Naz would have.

Another comparison is at some point in the off-season with the hole at PF did you find yourself a little intrigued by Obi Toppin? Kuminga is less than 2 years older than when Topping came into the league as a rookie. Both are very athletic guys and lob threats. Toppin is more of a PF/C type and Kuminga is more of a combo forward. Toppin didn't start shooting the 3 at any acceptable rate till year 3. Could Kuminga make a leap in effectiveness at a similar age?

I still have some skeptism about whether Kuminga works out especially depending on what happens financially and transactionally to make this deal work but a young (youngest starter) athletic player with plenty of NBA experience added to the roster for basically nothing especially long term...I mean sure. If you are bought into the idea of a younger team Connelly is certainly building that this off-season.

[Monster]

One more thing I'll add is comparing the situations between the Lakers and Wolves.

1. To me there may have been more players to compete with for minutes with the Lakers especially depending on what position he was gonna play. Until Kuminga starts hitting 3's playing the 4 probably is his best pathway to getting paid and having success. The Wolves have that spot for him on a silver platter.

2. Both teams have really good backcourts and both Guard on both teams are playmakers. If Healthy I think Ball might be the guy I'd rather play with than Luka.

3. If I'm looking to become a winning player MN sounds like a better spot than the Lakers and that feels so odd to say. Kessler is fine maybe even really good as a defender at C but still I think he is unproven. Gobert is a what 4 time DPOY winner future HOF guy and then you play next to Jaden in the frontcourt and with a franchise that's prioritized defense for Finch's tenure. The Lakers...idk about that team's defense it's definitely less sure.

So yeah there is a legit case that Kuminga picked the best spot over money (although he is still looking to get paid in the future). Lets see how it plays out.it doesn't have to be a HR it could be a double and still be a great move for the Wolves.

[Monster]

All we need to do now is trade Josh Green to Memphis in a money saving package including D'Angelo Russell. Lol

[thedoper]

All we need to do now is trade Josh Green to Memphis in a money saving package including D'Angelo Russell. Lol

And we get Cam back too

[Phenom]

All we need to do now is trade Josh Green to Memphis in a money saving package including D'Angelo Russell. Lol

And we get Cam back too

Honestly trading Green for whoever is better than stretching him. Stretching DLO would be much more palatable.

[Monster]

All we need to do now is trade Josh Green to Memphis in a money saving package including D'Angelo Russell. Lol

And we get Cam back too

Honestly trading Green for whoever is better than stretching him. Stretching DLO would be much more palatable.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Wolves already have an idea if Green has some value around the league. There will be plenty of guys that can be moved once they are able to be aggregated in a trade a few days into September. Maybe they end up with a moderately interesting player in one of those types of deals while opening up financial space to sign Kuminga. I would think Green might have more value to a team like Memphis than say Russell or some other guy they are probably gonna have to cut anyway. For the Wolves trading for a player instead of a waive and stretch of Green might be worth it just to have a salary they could match in a deal later.

[kekgeek]

All we need to do now is trade Josh Green to Memphis in a money saving package including D'Angelo Russell. Lol

And we get Cam back too

Honestly trading Green for whoever is better than stretching him. Stretching DLO would be much more palatable.

I will say some of that value of stretching Green is they come bring in 2 minimum players. 1 player they are required to do but the other creates flexibility, they could sign a second vet min later now, maybe a two way player pops and want to give them a team contract or they can be players at the buyout market (for players under the MLE)

Just want to say it’s not all bad if Green is stretched.

[Lipoli390]

https://youtu.be/VBKpba4vrEo?si=sfmnP90zeGX0KBtY

Another great analysis by my favorite Wolves video analyst. Nothing surprising in his analysis. He lays out what we need from Kuminga:

Offensively: Low usage, not stalling the ball or taking mid-range shots. Instead, attacking full court on fast breaks and cutting in the half court.

Defensively: Playing elite on-ball defense, which he can definitely do. I like the take here that if Kuminga can provide elite on-ball defense at the point of attack, it will fully unlock Jaden’s elite off-ball defense.

I’m sure the Wolves front office and coaching staff have already factored all these things in. The question is whether they can get him to do these things.

Getting Kuminga, if he plays up to his capability, is like getting Julius Randle with far more athleticism who can defend at the high level - hopefully without the pouting. Kuminga isn’t the passer that Julius is, but he’s actually a pretty good passer. So we’ll see.

[Lipoli390]

And we get Cam back too

Honestly trading Green for whoever is better than stretching him. Stretching DLO would be much more palatable.

I will say some of that value of stretching Green is they come bring in 2 minimum players. 1 player they are required to do but the other creates flexibility, they could sign a second vet min later now, maybe a two way player pops and want to give them a team contract or they can be players at the buyout market (for players under the MLE)

Just want to say it’s not all bad if Green is stretched.

I agree, Kek. It’s not all that bad and it might be the best option for the Wolves. Any deal we do will bring in a player with at least two guaranteed years left on his contract, possibly three or four, because that’s what would give the other team value in a trade for Josh Green. We don’t have draft picks to attach and it would be foolish in my view to attach TSJ or Clark. If we take back a player with two or more years left, that player will probably be an end-of-bench guy, which would make him no different in essence from three years of Green’s dead money contract on the books. Either way, we’d have anywhere from $2.5M to 5.0M on the books in a player who doesn’t play.