Cavs draft: Should Jonathan Kuminga start from jump if CLE pick?

At this point, the Cleveland Cavaliers are tied for being projected as picking #4 in the 2021 NBA Draft. That’s with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the two will have a coin flip on Tuesday to determine who has the better odds.

For an added element of course, both Cleveland and OKC are currently tied for having an 11.5 percent chance of landing the first overall pick in the upcoming draft, per Tankathon. The lottery is set to be on June 22 and the draft itself will commence on July 29.

We’ll ultimately see what plays out, but it’s reasonable to say that the Cavaliers should have a good chance of landing a top five pick. Some prospects that could be in the mix for the Wine and Gold would appear to be, if they landed #1, Cade Cunningham, for one.

From there, Evan Mobley, Jalen Green, Jalen Suggs and Jonathan Kuminga, to go with Scottie Barnes, would appear to be top five-six guys set to be selected in that range.

Others that could possible be in the mix for Cleveland could perhaps be the likes of James Bouknight, Keon Johnson, Jalen Johnson and maybe Kai Jones. Franz Wagner could maybe be in the mix, particularly if Cleveland fell to say #8.

In any case, with how the Cavs have a reasonable shot at landing a pick in the top four, let’s say, Kuminga would seem to be firmly in the mix.

It wasn’t a huge sample size, but Kuminga did show plenty of promise, and had 15.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists per outing in 13 appearances with the G League Elite in the G League bubble.

He’s still only 18 currently, and is a put-together 6-foot-8 and 220 pounds. And the two-way potential for him makes Kuminga one of the best prospects in the 2021 NBA Draft; I’d expect him to be in the mix for the Cavs, too.

It does beg to question though, should Kuminga start from the jump if he’s drafted by the Cavs?

To me, that shouldn’t be the case if that selection plays out, but if it does later in the season, that’s more than fine.