Cavs 2021 NBA Draft: 3 ways Jonathan Kuminga could help CLE
By Mason Cole
2021 NBA Draft prospect Jonathan Kuminga could be a difference-maker for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cleveland Cavaliers 2020-21 season is set to begin on Dec. 23 against the Charlotte Hornets and when it does, there will be a focus on the young prospects on the roster.
Guard Collin Sexton is entering his third NBA season and will look to continue to improve as a playmaker and defender. Second-year guards Darius Garland and Kevin Porter Jr. will both look to improve their overall game in their sophomore seasons. And Isaac Okoro, the Cavaliers first-round pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, will look to be a perimeter stopper in his rookie season.
The progression of the youth currently on their roster will be an important area of focus for the Cavaliers during their 2020-21 campaign.
But Cavs general manager Koby Altman will no doubt be preparing his team to add another prospect from the loaded 2021 NBA Draft class.
The 2021 NBA Draft is full of highly-coveted prospects, and Cade Cunningham of Oklahoma State, Jalen Green of the NBA G League Ignite Team, and Ziaire Williams of Stanford headline the class. USC’s Evan Mobley should be in the conversation near the top, too.
But the pool of prospects runs deep and there are players outside of the top three/four who will have NBA executives highly intrigued. One of those prospects is Jonathan Kuminga.
Kuminga, an 18-year-old small forward currently set to play for the G-League Ignite Team, is one of the top prospects in the draft because of his size and high potential both on offense and defense.
With a 6-8, 220-pound frame (per DraftExpress), Kuminga, who was a stud at The Patrick School in Hillside, New Jersey, will be able to provide versatility on the wing for whichever team drafts him. And, if certain circumstances play out correctly, there is a chance that Kuminga could become a Cavalier on draft day.
Here, I want to ponder a potential Kuminga-to-Cleveland scenario and discuss three ways that he could help the Cavaliers.
We’ll begin with the first way Kuminga could aid the Wine and Gold.