People seem on the fence and/or divided about kuminga so I thought I would unpack it a bit. First, I compared siakam first two seasons in the league to kuminga. I didn’t use this season bc I thought it better to have a larger sample. Bear in mind that kuminga reclassified at the draft so he is a full year younger than Scottie. In this sample, he is 3 years younger than Pascal. On the whole, the stats are pretty close and if anything, I’d say favour kuminga. One thing that stands out to me is the FTr. Kuminga can get to his spot and finish thru contact, without the dying goat screams. He is borderline elite at it and for his position (a big wing - which is coveted) he is elite imo. This is even more impressive to me bc he’s still young so he’s still filling out his body. The other concern is shooting but if you look at it, kuminga is shooting league avg 35% on low attempts from 3. Pascal career avg is 32%. His career high is 37% and this yr he’s hitting 23%. All of this is on 2-4 3fga/gm. I feel this production is attainable for kuminga and perhaps he can be more productive in the future? For example, I don’t think it’s out of the question that he might avg 37% on 4 attempts, which would constitute peak Pascal. Lastly, kuminga projects to be a good defender bc of his physical tools. He might be a bad team defender, tho. The low IQ complaints are real but to say he’s precious is dismissive imo. Look at their stats. Kuminga is much more productive and higher upside. Ultimately, kuminga looks like a Masai guy and a raptor to me.
I also compared Schroder and cp3. People seem decently happy with Schroder. Cp3 produced just as well as Schroder last yr, including, much more passing production and rebounding and better 3pt shooting - all things that would help the raps. His veteran leadership could help with consistency and maturity of the team. I think he would fit the raps better than he fits GSW. I don’t like his contract but maybe he can be dumped as an expiring next yr?
The other prospect that I would like is moody. He is also a yr younger than Scottie. Low key, he was part of the supposedly best HS team ever with Scottie. I imagine he and Scottie are friends. He also projects as the kind of 3&d player that I would like next to Scottie. He has long arms. He looks like a Masai guy to me. SG is a position of need imo and he might take some pressure off re-signing Gary or allow Gary to be traded. One thing I dislike about Gary is his size. He gets bumped off his spot and can’t rebound. Moody looks wider thru the shoulders and I think he will grow to be strong enough to guard his position. I didn’t compare their stats bc moody hasn’t got the kind of minutes that gary played in his early years.
I’m not sure how GSW feels? Baseline, I think the key parts are siakam for cp3, kuminga and moody. That’s a 3 for 1 trade so roster spots become an issue and GSW needs a bench to contend. I’d consider OPJ, Boucher and Malachi but I’d have to verify the money and not sure what GSW values?
My baseline here is Siakam, OPJ, and Flynn for Paul, Kuminga, Moody, and Podz. Kuminga and Moody are both necessary to even get into the ballpark of fair value for Siakam, and if those guys are getting traded, GSW is better-off going all-in and getting a proven playoff rotational piece in OPJ. I think the 2028 FRP with low protections instead of Podz is workable value too, but I think both sides might prefer clearing up that asset now when it’s a known quantity, rather than trying to work out appropriate protections, which are really tough because GSW doesn’t have their 3030 pick; any first-round obligations couldn’t extend past 2029. (Their pick owed to Memphis almost certainly conveys this year so an additional asset could be offered to Memphis to change the protections and free up future picks).
But it’s tough with the contract status. Siakam likely won’t commit to resigning anywhere, even for a max. A fully-signed Siakam would definitely command a lot more than this; but if Siakam leaves GSW in the offseason, it’s a brutal trade for them. Given how few teams have cap space this offseason, and given what an ideal market the Warriors are, they should be supremely confident in resigning him, but they’d never admit that.
I’m genuinely skeptical we can flip Paul for anything positive. Yeah, he’s got use to a contender, but at $30m? What contender has that sort of matching salary they can easily dump? One of the few that comes to mind is Miami… would they be willing to give up some useful asset to flip Paul for Lowry? Paul’s the more impactful player right now, both are potential expirings… but despite the sentimentality I’d still insist on another asset for helping Miami out here.
I agree with most of what you’re saying. I think gsw would push back on including podz. Opj is a known commodity for them so that helps but he’s also made of glass. It complicated the money but Boucher and Thad are also pieces that could help them. I’d have to verify the money works tho.
I do agree that I think Masai feels confident to re-sign Pascal and get a better package down the line. Its a risk but we are not behind closed doors to know how big of a risk.
I’m not so against cp3. I actually think as salary filler goes, he’s pretty good in terms of production and fit. He’s helped teams like okc in the past with leadership and I could see the same here.
Thx for your thoughtful response!