With the NBA combine in the rear-view mirror, ESPN draft guru Jonathan Givony has put together a new mock draft. In this latest update, the Oklahoma City Thunder get a player many analysts have projected to be a top-five pick all season long: Jonathan Kuminga.
Givony projects Florida State forward Scottie Barnes, who has often been linked to the Thunder, to go No. 5 to the Orlando Magic.
That leaves G League Ignite forward Kuminga available for the Oklahoma City.
“The Thunder would likely be thrilled to see Kuminga — considered a real No. 1 pick candidate by some league observers earlier in the year — at this stage of the draft. Sitting on the biggest war chest of draft picks the NBA has ever seen, the Thunder will likely have little hesitation to take a home run swing on a high-ceiling/lower-floor prospect like Kuminga as they desperately need some of those picks to pan out and become stars.”
Kuminga has fallen because he looks more raw than many anticipated when he declared for the G League team. He has elite potential on both ends of the court, but he struggled to shoot, hitting only 24.6% of his shots from 3 and a mere 37.8% of his looks overall, an awful number for a player who is so talented at scoring at the rim.
He averaged 15.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.8 blocks in the G League bubble.
While it didn’t necessarily do anything to improve his stock, doing this as an athlete one year out of high school competing against adults is nothing to scoff at.
“Putting him in the right culture and giving him the type of usage he needs to expand his game could give Kuminga a chance to be a difference-maker long term.”
The Thunder have a proven culture and have shown the ability to develop players. Last year alone, guys like Aleksej Pokusevski and Moses Brown went from fringe NBA roster fodder to productive players.
Kuminga shows more promise prior to the draft than either of the aforementioned players. The Thunder would be happy with this take.