Minnesota Sports Forum

TheFuture wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2026 5:25 pm I don't want any part in a player who sees himself through rose-colored glasses with nothing to back it up and feels the playing time should be gifted rather than earned.

All players have some semblance of cockiness/inflated ego, but that has to be mixed with humility and a drive to prove doubters wrong. Kuminga seems to have the cockiness with none of the rest.

He'll figure out eventually that his future is a 3rd option starter at best, a 4th-8th rotation contributor most likely. Figuring that out here should not be an option.

kekgeek wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2026 11:36 am

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2026 11:10 am I’ll add that I’m not a Kuminga fan and I’m not sure I’d want to trade anyone on our roster for him right now. But he is certainly talented.

Kuminga is a free agent

SameOldNudityDrew wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2026 12:06 pm

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2026 11:31 am Would you rather add Kuminga at $15M per year by trading Josh Green or add Jeremy Sochan at the vet minimum as a free agent without giving up any assets? To help inform your answer, here’s a statistical comparison:

Multi-Season Statistical Comparison

Kuminga (2024-25) (24 yrs. 6’7 ht., 220 lbs, 6’11 wingspan)
47 games, 24.3 MPG, 15.3 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 2.2 APG, 0.8 SPG, 0.4 BPG, 45.4% FG, 30.5% 3-pt, 66.8% FT

Kuminga (2025-2026)
36 games, 23.1 MPG, 12.2 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.3 APG, 0.6 SPT, 0.3 BPG, 46.3% FG, 33.3% 3-pt., 72.4% FT

Sochan (2024-25) (23 yrs., 6’8 ht., 230 lbs, 7’0 wingspan)
54 games, 25.3 MPG, 11.4 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.4 APG, 0.8 SPG, 0.5 BPG, 53.5% FG, 30.8% 3-pt, 69.6% FT

Key Gemini AI Takeaways

* Peak Scoring Volume: Kuminga’s 2024–25 season represents the highest scoring output of any of these individual campaigns, where he averaged 15.3 points per game in just 24.3 minutes of action.

* The Shooting Evolution: Looking at Kuminga's numbers sequentially from 24–25 to 25–26 reveals a notable trade-off. While his scoring volume dipped by roughly 3 points, his overall efficiency outside the paint trended up, showing clear growth in his 3-point range (from 30.5% to 33.3%) and at the free-throw line (from 66.8% to 72.4%).

* Sochan’s Baseline Holds Up: Even when stacked against Kuminga's peak scoring year, Sochan's 2024–25 campaign stands alone for high-efficiency floor game and possession-saving actions. He shot a massive 53.5% from the field—nearly 8 percentage points higher than Kuminga's 24–25 run—and controlled the boards with 6.5 rebounds per game.

Thanks for using AI Lip, and being transparent about it. I guess at some point we shoul have a conversation about AI and basketball analysis, since we're basically all having a conversation about AI and fill-in-the-blank these days.

With AI in cases like this, by big question is, how do you know if and when it's doing actual analysis as opposed to like, just constructing the safest, most logically predictable series of words?

I've heard some people argue that it's only possible to do the latter, but sometimes it's just so logical it seems like good analysis because, in essence, good analysis would lead to the same series of words, so what's the difference if it is "thinking" or not. I've also heard other people say it really is capable of thinking and analyzing, and I suspect that's true, but it seems to me like you have to be precise and thorough in your prompts and give it lots of relevant information to get that real analysis.

Think about it this way, imagine we were to be able to go back in time before the 3 point shooting revolution, like, 1990s, assuming the AI then would have been trained on all the written language that was available at that time, and we asked it how to make teams better. Would it have been able to figure out "hey, dumbasses, shoot way more 3s!" or would it have just kind of remixed conventional wisdom at the time? I think it might have been able to tell us all how dumb we were, but I suspect that to get that, we would have needed to get pretty specific about what we were looking for and make sure to feed it or direct it to a ton of information. I suppose the newest models can probably do more of that self-directing on their own.

But if I were an owner or a GM, you can bet I'd be having plenty of conversations with people about how to use AI well in this job. I'm sure lots of jobs are, but this is such a high-stakes, competitive business, the consequences of not using AI, using it badly or analyzing its feedback badly, or using it well seem really high.

If we're using it as armchair fans pondering Kuminga or Sochan, these front offices better be thinking about this, and I hope they're able to get good analysis out of it instead of just getting a well-worded consensus.

Phenom wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2026 4:54 pm Brett Siegel from Clutch Points is saying Wolves have shown interest in Jeremy Sochan and Trendon Watford.

Crazysauce wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2026 8:34 pm What would you guys think of taking a shot at Michael Beasley for the minimum. He's 37. Playing in the big 3. He could fill the spot for a year.

Mnwild1128 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 01, 2026 12:27 am We don't need, nor should want Kuminga. We have enough offense as-is. And i don't want his person anywhere near our locker roon.

Monster wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2026 12:48 pm

FNG wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2026 11:57 am

kekgeek wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2026 11:36 am

Kuminga is a free agent

He's such an enigma, isn't he? His numbers usually look pretty good, but two widely admired coaches have given up on him. If you research on the internet how good he is on defense, it says he is talented and can lock down his man when he wants, but is inconsistent. Hmm...sound like anyone we know?

He wants $20 million, so I don't know how we would ever get it done. I think I would pass anyway based on the opinions of Kerr and Snyder.

My current comp for Kuminga is Kyle Kuzma. That's not exactly high praise but at the right price and in the right role Kuzma is a reasonably worthwhile player. If I could sign Kuminga for like 15 million a year it could really pay off. I'm not really dying to add him though. He doesn't seem to quite play big enough to be a PF and he isn't a good 3 point shooter. I mean...how much is a player like that good for? He definitely is talented though but I'll be cool with it when he picks someone else for the money. It's not exactly a Lebron decision type situation. Lol

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 01, 2026 9:13 am

Monster wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2026 12:48 pm

FNG wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2026 11:57 am

He's such an enigma, isn't he? His numbers usually look pretty good, but two widely admired coaches have given up on him. If you research on the internet how good he is on defense, it says he is talented and can lock down his man when he wants, but is inconsistent. Hmm...sound like anyone we know?

He wants $20 million, so I don't know how we would ever get it done. I think I would pass anyway based on the opinions of Kerr and Snyder.

My current comp for Kuminga is Kyle Kuzma. That's not exactly high praise but at the right price and in the right role Kuzma is a reasonably worthwhile player. If I could sign Kuminga for like 15 million a year it could really pay off. I'm not really dying to add him though. He doesn't seem to quite play big enough to be a PF and he isn't a good 3 point shooter. I mean...how much is a player like that good for? He definitely is talented though but I'll be cool with it when he picks someone else for the money. It's not exactly a Lebron decision type situation. Lol

Kuminga’s calling card is scoring and perimeter shooter. But as you pointed out, he’s not a good 3-point shooter. Since we’re not in a position to be highly selective with this last roster addition, we need to add a player who brings at least one proven high-level contribution. We wouldn’t get that from Kuminga. He has the talent to be a terrific scorer and perimeter shooter, but he hasn’t proven to be reliable on either metric. Otherwise, he’s a subpar rebounder and defender at his position. I’d still consider Kuminga at the vet minimum based on his potential, but I’d be cautious. Concerns about his inconsistent effort and attitude are big red flags. We had those things in a far more talented and productive player named Julius Randle and we got rid of him. Kuminga isn’t good enough to justify overlooking those red flags.

That’s why I keep coming back to Sochan. He’s proven that you can count on him to rebound and defender his position at a pretty high level. You can count on him to bring high energy and intensity when he’s on the floor. He wouldn’t spread the floor with his shooting to say the least, but neither would Kuminga unless he suddenly performs at a level he’s never done before in his 5 NBA seasons. He’s a better perimeter shooter than Sochan, but not good enough to make opposing defenses worry about him. If we prioritize adding a PF who can spread the floor with his perimeter shooing, the obvious choice among free agents is Kevin Love. He would also bring high level rebounding along with solid passing. The problem with Kevin is that he’s not mobile and not a good defender. He’s never been particularly mobile or a good defender and now he’s 37 years old, which exacerbates those weaknesses and makes him more injury prone. I’d be fine adding Love at the vet minimum to complete our roster and add rotation depth to the PF position. But at the vet minimum I still think Sochan is the better choice because of his mobility, speed, athleticism and ball-handling. I think he fits the overall nature of this guard-oriented team our front office has put together. In addition to all that, Sochan brings untapped upside.

If we can’t sign Sochan or Love at the vet minimum, I don’t see any other available free-agent PFs I’d be interested in signing except maybe Kuminga. But again, I’d be cautious about signing him. Maybe Olynyk because at least we know he could stretch the floor if he’s healthy.

When it comes to potential trade targets to fill the PF position, I don’t see any realistic options worth giving up both Green and TSJ. PJ Washington might be realistic but his contract would be an albatross. Toppin might be realistic and I like that we could likely count on him to bring offense and floor spreading. He’s also fast and mobile, which means he’d fit our style of play. But he’s a poor rebounder and defender at his position and he’s coming off a foot injury, which is highly problematic for a big guy. Moreover, we’d have to give up both Green and TSJ to get him. I’m not sure he’s worth it but at least he passes my test as a guy you can count on to bring at least one high level capability to the floor when he’s out there.

So here’s my summary of the potential PF acquisitions who pass my test:

Sochan: rebounding, defense, high energy, mobility/athleticism (contra - poor shooter)
Love: rebounding, perimeter shooting (contra - old, declining, poor defender but better than Olynyk)
Olynyk: perimeter shooting (contra - old, declining, poor defender)
Toppin: perimeter shooting, scoring, high energy, mobility/athleticism. (Contra - poor defender/rebounding; foot injury)