The Minnesota Timberwolves are flying right now despite the absence of franchise superstar Anthony Edwards, and former Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga is playing a significant role in the team's 9-3 start to the season.
Kuminga isn't necessarily flourishing as the star he once envisioned, rather the type of high level and valuable role player the Warriors wanted him to be, and one that is bound for a major payday if this sustains through the course of the season.
Jonathan Kuminga is finally playing for the payday Warriors envisioned
Kuminga is averaging 12.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists in his first 12 games with the Timberwolves. Those numbers aren't to dissimilar to his career averages, so what's the difference?
The former seventh overall pick is taking on defensive responsibility effectively, averaging 1.2 steals and 0.8 blocks (both career highs) while holding easily the best defensive box plus-minus of his career. Combining with notable defenders in Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert, the frontcourt trio are helping lead the number one defense in the league with a 103.8 defensive rating -- only three teams are below 108.
On the offensive end, Kuminga isn't trying to do to much. His 10.1 field-goal attempts per game after less than what we saw over his last two full seasons with Golden State. More importantly, his found his three-point stroke at a career-high 40.4% on 4.3 attempts per game.
Above all else, the Timberwolves are playing winning basketball and they've outscored teams by 98 points in Kuminga's 362 minutes on the floor. He has an 8.2 plus-minus per game, having not held a mark better than 2.0 in any of his first five seasons.
Jonathan Kuminga headed for payday with this level of impact
Perhaps this is a situation of Kuminga being humbled by having his team option declined by the Atlanta Hawks, before having to settle for a two-year, $12.4 million deal with the Timberwolves that comes with a player option.
Whatever the reasoning, Kuminga is headed towards the kind of payday he could have got with the Warriors had he embraced this role earlier. There's no reason he couldn't have got the long-term, $100+ million contract Golden State just delivered to Brandin Podziemski, but alas Kuminga had higher hopes for himself.
As much as it's disappointing that Kuminga couldn't figure this out with the Warriors, he does deserve credit for finally realizing what it will take to get himself paid and to have a long and successful NBA career.
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