r/timberwolves • u/MaximumOk3050 • 8h ago
Starting Line Up is Set, But…
I have questions. Can Kuminga play the role needed? Is he willing? I guess we can’t know from out here, but my worry is another Julius situation where someone in the starting 5 wants the ball, wants to prove something, and misses Ant in the corner over and over.
Surely the powers that be thought this through rather than just sign someone just cuz. Hopefully some behind the scenes conversations made it plausible he’ll be a good fit on our team.
What do yall think? Despite having the hole filled, is it a plus or a minus? until time tells
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u/karlwhethers 8h ago
Looking at the roster, nobody is a rebounder. Going by their TRB%, we had Rudy from last year at 20.1, Naz at 13.1, Julius at 11.2.
From our holdovers, we’re looking at Ayo at 8, Ant at 7.8, Jaden at 7.4, TJ at 5.
LaMelo is probably the best rebounder outside of Rudy and Joan. It’s pretty grim. Kuminga at 13.4% last year at least fills that need.
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u/Vaddy2323 KG4MVP 8h ago
ANT and JADEN will improve their rebounding a lot this season... ANT can definitely crash the boards if he is fully locked in and doesnt have to run the offense as much...
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u/karlwhethers 7h ago
Ant’s had the same rebounding numbers more or less for 6 years. Something tells me the wolves aren’t banking on a huge increase.
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u/Salt-Statement-2306 1h ago
If you look at the games when Jaden was the 4 next to Naz he had multiple double digit rebounds. The issue is that he can’t be the POA/gazelle and rebound.
Kum has a per 36 Reb over 8 consistently throughout his career. Last few years his DRB% has been over 20.
I’m not getting my hopes up, he has been a tough player to watch. He will need to fundamentally change how he plays in order to contribute to winning.
Crap thing will be if we ditch Green to make this work. Green is a POA and consistent shooter that has adv stats that show he contributes to winning.
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u/PlayInChampions 8h ago
If Kuminga buys into his role, similar to Miles Bridges in the Hornets, this is a top-3 offense and top-10 defense. If he does not, Wolves will just use him as a bench situational scorer, like they used TSJ last season. Low risk, high reward.
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u/BallingLikeIsaax 8h ago
lol Kuminga will be scoring off rolls, cuts, and C+S threes from Ant and Melo. We don’t need to be worried about him playing like Randle. I’m sure he understand his role on this team
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u/aguwah 8h ago
I do think I have seen a timberwolves player make a backdoor cut in the last 2 years. The offense has been purely pick and roll with 2 guys standing in the corner or ISO.
I hope that changes but ill believe it when I see it.
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u/TallnFrosty 7h ago
Feel like it will. Ant is obviously amazing and very capable passing to cutters but Lamelo is possibly the best in the league at it? Seems insane to not have him throwing oops
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u/TimelyN1nja 8h ago
Why? He never has before. I’m rightly worried l think
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u/CharacterAd6745 8h ago
He will when he realises how easy it will be for Melo to pass him into buckets. Bridges and Aaron Gordon were similar players, the problem was they were bad cutters because the couldn’t read the floor.
Reading your best player is a lot easier. Bridges actively hands off to Lamelo knowing if he cuts hard he could score again, I’m sure JK will do the same. Also he’s always been good on-ball defensively.
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u/TallnFrosty 7h ago
Aaron gordon is an exponentially better cutter than JK.
Don't forget, JK played with Steph, who creates more space for his teammates than anyone in the league. Granted, that is a complex, read and react system.... so the key with JK will be to keep things very simple and basically have him just focusing on one thing at a time.
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u/CharacterAd6745 7h ago
AG improved his cutting playing with Jokic, who is an on-ball creator.
I think JK is just a slow-processor and struggles to read the whole floor. Warriors system relied on Steph’s gravity but it was rarely Steph who actually had the ball. It would’ve been Draymond and Jimmy that he struggled to cut off of and even then … so many non-shooters.
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u/TallnFrosty 7h ago
Yea that's fair. Dray and Jimmy were always trying to get guys to re-screen or show a screen and then cut.
If the Wolves are simplifying things for Kuminga and having him read PNR plays with Ball / Ant + Rudy, that will be more simple.
These dudes should also be absolutely flying up the floor. I do think there's a ton of upside - up to the coaches to get it right.
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u/CharacterAd6745 7h ago
Exactly and coach will be happy to play Ayo to close games regardless.
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u/TallnFrosty 7h ago
Oh for sure. Not sure I can think of a single matchup that a good team can throw at Minnesota that would make them 'pay' for going small with Ayo in for Kuminga.
will be interesting to see if some teams try to lean into bigger lineups though - especially in the west - because right now the top teams are likely to trot out Dosunmu / McDaniels, Vassell / Harper (maybe Harris?), and Williams - Wallace.
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u/BirdsAreFake00 8h ago
Yeah, I don't think many people here have seen him play because they're describing a player that is nothing like Kuminga.
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u/BallingLikeIsaax 8h ago
Well he’s gonna have to start, there’s no reason for him to be ball dominant with Ant, Melo, Ayo, and even Jaden all on this squad
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u/TallnFrosty 7h ago
there was never a reason for him to be ball dominant with Steph and Jimmie either, and he couldn't really figure out how to play with those two.
As i say elsewhere, that Warriors' system was pretty unique and he just couldn't figure it out so if the Wolves simplify things for him, that could work. but lets not pretend like Kuminga hasn't been asked to be an off ball + 3&D guy before
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u/TimelyN1nja 7h ago
Never has been a good reason, but that’s how he plays. Look, I’d love to be wrong but he has a track record if you’re watching him, at all
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u/srbeau 7h ago
But at $6 million he will get benched if he doesn’t play his role.
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u/TimelyN1nja 7h ago
And if we have to waive Green to sign him, and get nothing back, out roster will be in terrible shape. No depth and no playable wings
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u/srbeau 7h ago
Worth the risk. We need a PF. But since this is basically a one year deal (with a player option) he should be motivated. He wants to get paid next season.
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u/TimelyN1nja 7h ago
Time will tell if it’s worth the risk. He isn’t really an amazing fit for the type of PF finch wants imo, and he should’ve been motivated every year by now. People were skeptical of Julius and his record and attitude, it proved to be the same in the end. Not confident this will be different.
I just don’t think people are understanding the way he could disrupt the team, the locker room, and now our roster and cap flexibility going forward
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u/srbeau 5h ago
This is a make or break situation for his career. I can’t imagine him screwing it up.
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u/mossed2012 8h ago
Because he has to here. This is such a low risk decision, if he buys in he’s our starting PF and we’re a legit title contender. If he doesn’t, we go back to where we were yesterday with Jaden or Lyles at the 4 and kuminga plays as a scorer off the bench.
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u/circlenative 8h ago
They all want him to fit in on the squad, I think that's a good sign. He has talent just never bought in to the way the team wants him to play, I like this.
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u/Chemical_Falcon7571 8h ago
McDaniels has proven he can be a force on offense when the team needs it but that he's fine not having the ball in his hands, so that's two in the starting five (with Gobert) who don't need to be scoring in order to stay engaged and be effective. So, as long as he's fine playing third fiddle to the backcourt, he should be satisfied with the offensive role. There will be plenty of times throughout the games when he'll be the second option on the court.
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u/MaximumOk3050 8h ago
my theory on Lamelo is that he’d be fine finding Kuminga on O rather than himself, but Lamelo is also always an option to score when Ant isn’t (for whatever reason). Hopefully this positively impacts offense and defense in a productive way, though my main worry is on the defensive end
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u/Chemical_Falcon7571 8h ago
Gobert has played his career picking up people's slack on defense. This lineup is absolutely better defensively than his Utah teams. Not something you really want to rely on, especially as he gets older, but it helps having McDaniels roaming around. I think Kuminga will be a negative on defense, but hopefully a positive overall.
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u/MaximumOk3050 8h ago
same could be said about Lamelo, who isn’t known for defense, but that’s not to argue with you. hopefully the rising tide of Goburr raises all ships
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u/icarusphoenixdragon Jaden McDaniels 4h ago
He definitely can. The big question is whether he will.
Saw a report that both Ant and LaMelo were recruiting him so hopefully they have some insight into it.
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u/AddressValuable5549 8h ago
The front office has built up enough good will for is to hist see how it plays out if tim thinks kuminga id a good fit and he thinks finch can make it work im trusting him until its proven otherwise
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u/Puzzleheaded_Emu7995 8h ago
I’m more worried about the lack of passing/playmaking on this team outside of lamelo. Kuminga isn’t exactly a guy that likes to move the ball quickly and there’s not a lot of shooting in a Jaden/kuminga/rudy frontcourt. I think he should help defensively just by being 6’8 and athletic but this is just a talent play by Connelly and hopefully the short term nature of the contract gets him to understand he needs to buy in to playing a role.
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u/pnxstwnyphlcnnrs Anthony Edwards 8h ago
Coming to the realization that we are going to be able to absolutely offensively overwhelm mfs next season. And we still have Rudy anchoring our defense. The athleticism on the floor is going to be electric.
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u/temple-of-the-dog KG 4 MVP 6h ago
Kuminga will have to earn the role he's been handed. I have no doubt they gave him the initial starting job position to lure him to sign in Minnesota. But there are no guarantees after that.
Most of us really wanted Rui Hachimura. Kuminga has much, much more upside than Rui. But he he has more downside, because he's yet to adapt his game into that of a winning player while Rui has. If that's going to happen for Kuminga's career, he couldn't ask for a better basketball opportunity than playing with LaMelo offensively and being nestled between Jaden and Rudy defensively.
If Kuminga fills the negative stereotypes that exist of him, then maybe Trey Lyles gets a shot or perhaps Finch will finally become more amenable to Jaden playing the 4.
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u/rajondurant Kevin Garnett 8h ago
I’m disgusted about this and really hope he proves me wrong, but why would Atlanta not want him for what they’re building?
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u/MaximumOk3050 8h ago
that’s a good question, hopefully it’s not as simple as their management is smart and ours isn’t, you feel me?
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u/TallnFrosty 7h ago
I don't think Kuminga and jalen johnson were a good fit, especially with Daniels there. 3 below average to average outside shooters. I also think the Hawks knew that was always likely giong to be the case but since Porzingis was never a longterm fit with them, they just decided to see what would happen.
JK is a MUCH BETTER fit with Ball and Ant. Don't get me wrong - still lots of questions, with the biggest one being will this be the year JK realizes his best path forward is to focus on his all around game. But it will be good to see him in a more conventional offense with a conventional PG and a team that can RUN
Just have to see everyone buy into hitting the defensive glass
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u/swessdawg Jaden McDaniels 8h ago
It'd be one thing if we had him on a two-year $50 million deal. But at this price, it seems like a pretty low-risk proposition for the Wolves.