Chris Paul is tutoring Jonathan Kuminga this summer, says Warriors Assistant GM Larry Harris
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Chris Paul is tutoring Jonathan Kuminga this summer, says Warriors Assistant GM Larry Harris
the dream we all dream of
Assistant GM Larry Harris spoke to KNBR 680 on Aug 18 2023 and had these interesting quotes:
Making space for Kuminga
I think that one of the things that we did at the draft and free agency, we made a conscious effort as we're looking for the best player best fit and so on and so forth… But one of the things that we really concentrated on was was trying to give a runway for both Moses and JK. And certainly Jonathan in particular… trying to give him a lane and an opportunity to really showcase his talent.
I think the fans got to see the last third of the season where where he got meaningful minutes prior to the playoffs, that there's there's something there, the athleticism, the ability to run the floor and the ability to guard basically one through four. The ability to get to the rim, you know, can play vertical, which you know, we need athletes and he's probably our best athlete, him and Andrew.
So I think the fans will see is — regardless of the 60 points in the pro-am, which again 60 points anywhere is an impressive stat even if they didn't guard anybody — but I think for us, we've seen the growth, maturity-wise, his focus is much better.
Chris Paul is tutoring JK
I think that the players are trying to engage him to be great. Just to give you just a little note on like Chris Paul. When he's come here the past couple of times, and just kind of run up and down and played with our guys. He and JK have connected in the sense that like after a play or after a short amount of time on the floor, he'll pull JK aside and say, here's what I'm looking for. Here's what you need to do. I think that tutelage is gonna go a long ways.
And Chris has been known to do that with young players. And I think that Jonathan's taken to that. And I'm just excited to see his mentality. His approach has been great. His body’s great. He looks great. He looks great. And his focus, and everything is he's doing it with a purpose. If you look at our roster and our depth chart, [JK] sees that there's opportunity for minutes to play on this team.
Chris Paul is tutoring Jonathan Kuminga this summer, says Warriors Assistant GM Larry Harris
Apparently Evan Mobley has Bahamian eligibility. If he were to join the Bahamas and Klay were to switch to the Bahamas they could roll out a starting lineup in the Olympics of Eric Gordon, Buddy Hield, Klay Thompson, Evan Mobley, and DeAndre Ayton which is frankly absurd for a nation of their size (less than half the population of SF). Presumably Evan Mobley's brother would also join, and it sounds like Naz Reid has Bahamian eligibility as well.
Would be fun for the game, but I assume Evan Mobley would prefer to play on the US team so it seems unlikely.
I had a genuine gut feeling from the first 4 games, that USA would soon lose and I said to my wife, that Lithuania may be the first team to actually do it. They may not be the last as I definitely see a weakness in Team USA. Some will point at Kerr and blame it on his inability to use a big man to the fullest. Lithuania was bigger, better on the boards, and shooting lights out from the 3. We all know how Kerr coaches and his proclivities for small ball. The problem seems to lie with the players starting slowly, not shooting well. These players were not hand picked by Kerr and there are probably other agendas that go into putting a Team USA together. Having said this, Team USA has been able to come back in every game to squash their opponents except this one. The only thing that has changed is the quality of the opponents. First, Montenegro showed the weakness in Team USA but luckily lost to them. I don't think Italy will beat them but I suspect that one of the upcoming opponents might do it. I'm not saying USA cannot win it all. Just asking the question, 'Will they?'