The Cleveland Cavaliers are interested in acquiring former Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, taking a step towards that by creating some cap flexibility with Dennis Schroder's trade to the Charlotte Hornets on Friday.
The Cavaliers are now intent on bringing in Denver Nuggets restricted free agent Peyton Watson or Kuminga, but landing the latter would risk repeating a very specific on-court issue that the Warriors already learned last season.
Cavaliers risk Jonathan Kuminga mistake Warriors learned last season
Cleveland would presumably give Kuminga a major role, and potentially a starting one in a forward rotation that lost Dean Wade to the Philadelphia 76ers, and which saw former superstar forward LeBron James also head to the City of Brotherly Love over a return back home.
The problem for the Cavaliers is they've already got a double big starting combination in Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allan who don't particularly space the floor effectively. Mobley shot 37% on 3.2 attempts from deep in the 2024-25 season, but that slipped to 29.7% last season and he now sits below 31% from beyond the arc on his career.
Kuminga, meanwhile, shot a combined 33.3% with the Warriors and Atlanta Hawks last season which is right around his career percentage. Can former Golden State assistant Kenny Atkinson afford to start Kuminga, Mobley and Allan together, have that trio close games, or even have them play considerable minutes at all throughout the season?
The short answer is no. Golden State tried to fit Kuminga, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green together despite the obvious spacing issues, and it just couldn't work consistently enough for Steve Kerr to persist with before the former seventh overall pick was traded to Atlanta in February.
The spacing concerns may be a primary reason why the Hawks have also moved on after only a few months, with Kuminga relegated to a bench role on a team featuring Dyson Daniels who shot just 18.2% from 3-point range last season.
Cavaliers could amplify mistake with Jonathan Kuminga sign-and-trade
The issue for Cleveland surrounds not just the projected fit should they acquire Kuminga, but the fact they'd likely be sending out one of their best 3-point shooters in the process with Max Strus likely to be involved in any sign-and-trade for the former Warrior or Watson.
Even in an injury-plagued season where he only appeared in 12 games, Strus still shot 40.6% from 3-point range on nearly seven attempts per game. That came after shooting a healthy 38.6% on nearly six attempts during the 2024-25 season, leaving a major shooting hole and a vastly different looking team if they're moving out Strus for Kuminga.
Perhaps it's a risk worth taking and the Cavaliers do need to be credited for trying to stay aggressive after missing out on James, particularly in contrast to the Warriors who've had an incredibly quiet summer after being rejected by the four-time MVP.
Add us as a preferred source on Google