Minnesota Sports Forum

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Sun Aug 30, 2026 9:04 pm

FNG wrote: ↑Sun Aug 30, 2026 7:49 pm I just finished listening to the Locked on Wolves pod with the Locked on Warriors guy about JK. It made me feel a lot better about the acquisition, which I already was positive about. It sounds to me like JK's issues in GS were a combination of three things: 1) Being behind other forwards (Dray, Wig, General Soreness, etc., 2) his immaturity and unwillingness to accept he was not a starter, and 3)animosity between him and Kerr. I'll address all three from an OpTimistic viewpoint:

1) JK almost always played well when those blocking him were out injured, but was sometimes out of the rotation when they returned. The positive spin is he has a guaranteed starting position at PF with the Wolves...nobody is going to return from the Il to take his place if he is playing well.

2) A more mature NBA player might have accepted that vets like Wig and Butler were more reliable than him, and would not have worried as much about playing time. But he was 19 when he joined GS, and only 23 when he left. Think about your maturity level at 19 compared to 24 (which he will be this season). At 19 I thought I knew more than my college coach and fought his decisions every step of the way. At 24 I had a daughter and a son on the way and a job, and was at least a decade more mature than I was at 19. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that the JK who played so well in Atlanta last season was a lot more mature than the teenager Kerr inherited (and didn't make the decision to draft). And the Wolves also should have a more mature version of JK.

3) I like Kerr as a coach, but certain relationships just don't work. Something about these two guys just didn't mix. Apparently he was not Kerr's choice to draft...he was Bob Myers'. And that's difficult to overcome. Kerr played JK when he was forced to by injuries, but sparingly otherwise. Time will tell who was wrong. I hope it was Kerr.

So I feel even better about the acquisition after listening to the podcast. Was JK faultless in GS? Hell know...he could have handled it better. But he sure looked like a different guy coming off the bench for an Atlanta team that almost beat the Knicks. I look for him to have a terrific season with the Wolves.






MN

The vaunted performance in the Knicks series actually wasn't all that great. In the Knicks closeout game he set an NBA playoff record by posting a plus-minus of minus 44 in only 22 minutes of action. He only had 20 rebounds in the entire series even though he played in all six games. He had as many assists as turnovers. He shot 20% from 3. He ended up with a Net Rating of -19.2 in that series and was a net negative in four out of the six games, so it wasn't just Game 6 that weighed down his Net Rating for the series.

And as a fan of net On/Off rating, I'm sure you've noted just how awful his track record is in the Playoffs (his regular season is a bit more mixed).

Bottom line...Finch has his work cut out for him to get Kuminga to play a winning style of basketball that will translate during the playoffs.

FNG wrote: ↑Mon Aug 31, 2026 2:12 pm

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Sun Aug 30, 2026 9:04 pm

FNG wrote: ↑Sun Aug 30, 2026 7:49 pm I just finished listening to the Locked on Wolves pod with the Locked on Warriors guy about JK. It made me feel a lot better about the acquisition, which I already was positive about. It sounds to me like JK's issues in GS were a combination of three things: 1) Being behind other forwards (Dray, Wig, General Soreness, etc., 2) his immaturity and unwillingness to accept he was not a starter, and 3)animosity between him and Kerr. I'll address all three from an OpTimistic viewpoint:

1) JK almost always played well when those blocking him were out injured, but was sometimes out of the rotation when they returned. The positive spin is he has a guaranteed starting position at PF with the Wolves...nobody is going to return from the Il to take his place if he is playing well.

2) A more mature NBA player might have accepted that vets like Wig and Butler were more reliable than him, and would not have worried as much about playing time. But he was 19 when he joined GS, and only 23 when he left. Think about your maturity level at 19 compared to 24 (which he will be this season). At 19 I thought I knew more than my college coach and fought his decisions every step of the way. At 24 I had a daughter and a son on the way and a job, and was at least a decade more mature than I was at 19. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that the JK who played so well in Atlanta last season was a lot more mature than the teenager Kerr inherited (and didn't make the decision to draft). And the Wolves also should have a more mature version of JK.

3) I like Kerr as a coach, but certain relationships just don't work. Something about these two guys just didn't mix. Apparently he was not Kerr's choice to draft...he was Bob Myers'. And that's difficult to overcome. Kerr played JK when he was forced to by injuries, but sparingly otherwise. Time will tell who was wrong. I hope it was Kerr.

So I feel even better about the acquisition after listening to the podcast. Was JK faultless in GS? Hell know...he could have handled it better. But he sure looked like a different guy coming off the bench for an Atlanta team that almost beat the Knicks. I look for him to have a terrific season with the Wolves.






MN

The vaunted performance in the Knicks series actually wasn't all that great. In the Knicks closeout game he set an NBA playoff record by posting a plus-minus of minus 44 in only 22 minutes of action. He only had 20 rebounds in the entire series even though he played in all six games. He had as many assists as turnovers. He shot 20% from 3. He ended up with a Net Rating of -19.2 in that series and was a net negative in four out of the six games, so it wasn't just Game 6 that weighed down his Net Rating for the series.

And as a fan of net On/Off rating, I'm sure you've noted just how awful his track record is in the Playoffs (his regular season is a bit more mixed).

Bottom line...Finch has his work cut out for him to get Kuminga to play a winning style of basketball that will translate during the playoffs.

Ha, that was a disastrous game for JK and the Hawks! But the improvement in his on/off since leaving a bad fit situation in Golden State is one of the reasons I'm so high on this acquisition. I've mentioned earlier in this thread how impressed I was with his defense when I watched him with Atlanta, and it shows up in his stats. In his 16 games with the Hawks they gave up an impressive 9.7 fewer points per 100 and held opponents to an EFG% 4.6 percentage points lower when he was on the court. And that continued in his five games in the playoffs, as the Knicks scored 9.3 fewer points per 100 and had an EFG% 5.9 percentage points lower when JK was on the court. That's impressive, and very much matched what I saw when he was on the court. I never thought of him as much of a defensive player when he was with the Warriors, but his combination of length, athleticism and (yes) effort was remindful of Jaden McDaniels. I love that reportedly defense was the main topic of conversation when Ant met with him, because that is where he is going to make his biggest contribution. I'm excited to see what a front line of Rudy, Jaden and JK can do.

and then there's the shooting, and that may be a problem. I don't want to call him a bad shooter as some have here, because his career eGF& of 58% matches the average for a PF last season. But he is a far below average 3-point shooter...even though he averaged 35.9% in his 16 games with the Hawks, his career average is a terrible 26.3%. Overall JK is not an inefficient scorer, but Finchy is going to have to coach him into taking the shots he has the most success with.

Whether we get the Golden State or Atlanta version of JK is going to determine the minutes he gets and how much he helps this team.

60WinTim wrote: ↑Mon Aug 31, 2026 3:39 pm

FNG wrote: ↑Mon Aug 31, 2026 2:12 pm

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Sun Aug 30, 2026 9:04 pm

The vaunted performance in the Knicks series actually wasn't all that great. In the Knicks closeout game he set an NBA playoff record by posting a plus-minus of minus 44 in only 22 minutes of action. He only had 20 rebounds in the entire series even though he played in all six games. He had as many assists as turnovers. He shot 20% from 3. He ended up with a Net Rating of -19.2 in that series and was a net negative in four out of the six games, so it wasn't just Game 6 that weighed down his Net Rating for the series.

And as a fan of net On/Off rating, I'm sure you've noted just how awful his track record is in the Playoffs (his regular season is a bit more mixed).

Bottom line...Finch has his work cut out for him to get Kuminga to play a winning style of basketball that will translate during the playoffs.

Ha, that was a disastrous game for JK and the Hawks! But the improvement in his on/off since leaving a bad fit situation in Golden State is one of the reasons I'm so high on this acquisition. I've mentioned earlier in this thread how impressed I was with his defense when I watched him with Atlanta, and it shows up in his stats. In his 16 games with the Hawks they gave up an impressive 9.7 fewer points per 100 and held opponents to an EFG% 4.6 percentage points lower when he was on the court. And that continued in his five games in the playoffs, as the Knicks scored 9.3 fewer points per 100 and had an EFG% 5.9 percentage points lower when JK was on the court. That's impressive, and very much matched what I saw when he was on the court. I never thought of him as much of a defensive player when he was with the Warriors, but his combination of length, athleticism and (yes) effort was remindful of Jaden McDaniels. I love that reportedly defense was the main topic of conversation when Ant met with him, because that is where he is going to make his biggest contribution. I'm excited to see what a front line of Rudy, Jaden and JK can do.

and then there's the shooting, and that may be a problem. I don't want to call him a bad shooter as some have here, because his career TS% of 58% matches the average for a PF last season. But he is a far below average 3-point shooter...even though he averaged 35.9% in his 16 games with the Hawks, his career average is a terrible 26.3%. Overall JK is not an inefficient scorer, but Finchy is going to have to coach him into taking the shots he has the most success with.

Whether we get the Golden State or Atlanta version of JK is going to determine the minutes he gets and how much he helps this team.

26.3% career 3-point average?!? When I look at his numbers, he's never had a season with under 30%, and even had an acceptable 37% in his 2nd season.

Ahh... I think you were looking at his limited playoff numbers!

FNG wrote: ↑Mon Aug 31, 2026 4:06 pm

60WinTim wrote: ↑Mon Aug 31, 2026 3:39 pm

FNG wrote: ↑Mon Aug 31, 2026 2:12 pm

Ha, that was a disastrous game for JK and the Hawks! But the improvement in his on/off since leaving a bad fit situation in Golden State is one of the reasons I'm so high on this acquisition. I've mentioned earlier in this thread how impressed I was with his defense when I watched him with Atlanta, and it shows up in his stats. In his 16 games with the Hawks they gave up an impressive 9.7 fewer points per 100 and held opponents to an EFG% 4.6 percentage points lower when he was on the court. And that continued in his five games in the playoffs, as the Knicks scored 9.3 fewer points per 100 and had an EFG% 5.9 percentage points lower when JK was on the court. That's impressive, and very much matched what I saw when he was on the court. I never thought of him as much of a defensive player when he was with the Warriors, but his combination of length, athleticism and (yes) effort was remindful of Jaden McDaniels. I love that reportedly defense was the main topic of conversation when Ant met with him, because that is where he is going to make his biggest contribution. I'm excited to see what a front line of Rudy, Jaden and JK can do.

and then there's the shooting, and that may be a problem. I don't want to call him a bad shooter as some have here, because his career TS% of 58% matches the average for a PF last season. But he is a far below average 3-point shooter...even though he averaged 35.9% in his 16 games with the Hawks, his career average is a terrible 26.3%. Overall JK is not an inefficient scorer, but Finchy is going to have to coach him into taking the shots he has the most success with.

Whether we get the Golden State or Atlanta version of JK is going to determine the minutes he gets and how much he helps this team.

26.3% career 3-point average?!? When I look at his numbers, he's never had a season with under 30%, and even had an acceptable 37% in his 2nd season.

Ahh... I think you were looking at his limited playoff numbers!

Just wanted to see if you were paying attention, Tim . Yes, those are his playoff numbers. His regular season career 3-point average is 33.2%, or only 2 percentage points lower than the average for PFs. And as I posted above, his career TS% of 38% is almost exactly the average for PFs. So the narrative here that he is a poor shooter is inaccurate. A better description is that he is an overall average shooter for a PF and a just slightly worse than average 3-point shooter.

I think you share my enthusiasm for this deal, Tim. I think it's grand theft larceny that TC has secured JK for a year at 1/4 what the WArriors were paying him and half of what the Lakers offered him this summer! I also think that those here who didn't watch him much at the end of last season are going to be very pleasantly surprised by his defense. Finding a way to keep him if he performs the way I think he will is going to be a challenge, but let's take care of this season first!

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Mon Aug 31, 2026 4:56 pm

FNG wrote: ↑Mon Aug 31, 2026 4:06 pm

60WinTim wrote: ↑Mon Aug 31, 2026 3:39 pm

26.3% career 3-point average?!? When I look at his numbers, he's never had a season with under 30%, and even had an acceptable 37% in his 2nd season.

Ahh... I think you were looking at his limited playoff numbers!

Just wanted to see if you were paying attention, Tim . Yes, those are his playoff numbers. His regular season career 3-point average is 33.2%, or only 2 percentage points lower than the average for PFs. And as I posted above, his career TS% of 38% is almost exactly the average for PFs. So the narrative here that he is a poor shooter is inaccurate. A better description is that he is an overall average shooter for a PF and a just slightly worse than average 3-point shooter.

I think you share my enthusiasm for this deal, Tim. I think it's grand theft larceny that TC has secured JK for a year at 1/4 what the WArriors were paying him and half of what the Lakers offered him this summer! I also think that those here who didn't watch him much at the end of last season are going to be very pleasantly surprised by his defense. Finding a way to keep him if he performs the way I think he will is going to be a challenge, but let's take care of this season first!

The point is his 3-point shot isn't good enough to be respected by opposing defenses, i.e. they will gladly give up that shot in order to close off the paint. If he were paired with a floor spacing big that could shoot, like Chet or Wemby or Myles Turner then it's not as problematic. But with a total non-shooter like Rudy in the middle, defenses now have two guys they don't have to worry about from beyond the arc.

Regardless of JK's TS%, what matters even more is how he impacts team offense. Just like Rudy is super efficient in terms of TS% (8th in the NBA last year), we all know that our offense is better when he's on the bench.

The key to JK starring in his role is to basically be a better version of Jared Vanderbilt circa '21-22 when he started for the Wolves. That would require a complete re-wiring of his mentality. May be some of that re-wiring started happening in Atlanta (??). We can only hope.

Monster wrote: ↑Mon Aug 31, 2026 5:12 pm

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Mon Aug 31, 2026 4:56 pm

FNG wrote: ↑Mon Aug 31, 2026 4:06 pm

Just wanted to see if you were paying attention, Tim . Yes, those are his playoff numbers. His regular season career 3-point average is 33.2%, or only 2 percentage points lower than the average for PFs. And as I posted above, his career TS% of 38% is almost exactly the average for PFs. So the narrative here that he is a poor shooter is inaccurate. A better description is that he is an overall average shooter for a PF and a just slightly worse than average 3-point shooter.

I think you share my enthusiasm for this deal, Tim. I think it's grand theft larceny that TC has secured JK for a year at 1/4 what the WArriors were paying him and half of what the Lakers offered him this summer! I also think that those here who didn't watch him much at the end of last season are going to be very pleasantly surprised by his defense. Finding a way to keep him if he performs the way I think he will is going to be a challenge, but let's take care of this season first!

The point is his 3-point shot isn't good enough to be respected by opposing defenses, i.e. they will gladly give up that shot in order to close off the paint. If he were paired with a floor spacing big that could shoot, like Chet or Wemby or Myles Turner then it's not as problematic. But with a total non-shooter like Rudy in the middle, defenses now have two guys they don't have to worry about from beyond the arc.

Regardless of JK's TS%, what matters even more is how he impacts team offense. Just like Rudy is super efficient in terms of TS% (8th in the NBA last year), we all know that our offense is better when he's on the bench.

The key to JK starring in his role is to basically be a better version of Jared Vanderbilt circa '21-22 when he started for the Wolves. That would require a complete re-wiring of his mentality. May be some of that re-wiring started happening in Atlanta (??). We can only hope.

It's worth noting that Kuminga is a way more skilled offensive player than Vanderbilt. The reality is the thing holding Vanderbilt from being at the very least a super valuable role player if not a starter is he can't stay healthy. Kuminga has had some issues staying healthy too but not as bad as Vanderbilt.

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Mon Aug 31, 2026 1:14 pm

bleedspeed wrote: ↑Mon Aug 31, 2026 1:02 pm I look at JK as a tweener mostly because he can't shoot enough to be a SF.

I think he will be good in the regular season and a problem in the postseason when things slow down and become a half court game. I could be wrong, but it would be the first time ever for that.

By modern NBA standards he's not a good shooter for a Power Forward either. A lot of folks will point to Randle and say he wasn't a good 3-point shooter either. Exactly! Randle became a fairly pedestrian player once his early hot start from 3 dried up last season. Teams were more than willing to give that shot to him while they hung back in the paint.

It's tough to give guys like Ant the ideal space he needs to drive if you have both Rudy AND a second guy in the starting lineup that aren't very good shooters. We could see Ayo coming off the bench early and often for Kuminga if he can't make up for his lack of shooting by impacting the game in other ways.

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Tue Sep 01, 2026 7:42 am Kuminga's agent, who has come under fire, going on O'Connor's pod and explaining his actions in representing his client. Not sure if he helped or hurt his cause, as while he made some good points, he also seemed a bit defensive.

Some decent nuggets of info here as it relates to the Wolves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ircvwR3 ... VudA%3D%3D