So would you rather have Jonathan Kuminga or Yaxel Lendeborg?
Now I know that’s an incredibly insane thing to ask as the sample sizes are wildly different. Yaxel barely has a week of rookie hoops under his belt. And Kuminga is a champion who has been in the league since 2021; he has more rings than DeMar Derozan! As an award winning journalist representing this elite publication, I’m authorized to pose the wildest of basketball related questions. I mean, I’m the guy who had the Worst Take in the history of Dub Nation HQ after all. I live on the edge.
My question that leads this piece is coming from a real place. The rookie Big Yax has played a mere five games and you may be getting overwhelmed as everywhere you look you’re being inundated with historical comparisons of Yaxel to a smorgasboard of Hall-of-Famers who had the same numbers to start their career.
And considering his first game he only scored 12 points while he and his teammates endured Luka Doncic’s wrath in Los Angeles, we’re seeing a surge of fantastic performances to start his career.
His ability to handle the ball, connect the right pass to the right teammate, and shoot from deep with confidence is everything the Warriors could ask for from a big forward who looks like he could play anywhere from small forward to center.
Kinda reminds you of the expectations of another first round pick the Warriors had in Kuminga, who is now with the Timberwolves by way of the Hawks.
I just want to take a look at Yaxel’s last four games where the Warriors went 2-2. If we don’t count opening night, these are the four games following the Luka fiasco, over six days.
Oct. 23 vs. Memphis (L 111-108): 18 points, 4-11 FG, 1-3 3PT, 9-12 FT, 13 rebounds (7 offensive), 6 assists, 3 steals, 0 blocks, 6 turnovers, 37 minutes, -9
Oct. 24 at Phoenix (L 131-122): 26 points, 9-19 FG, 6-11 3PT, 2-3 FT, 9 rebounds (5 offensive), 5 assists, 0 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 36 minutes, +5
Oct. 26 at Denver (W 134-114): 31 points, 9-19 FG, 1-8 3PT, 12-13 FT, 12 rebounds (4 offensive), 6 assists, 0 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers, 31 minutes, +27
Oct. 28 at Minnesota (W 119-114): 26 points, 11-20 FG, 2-5 3PT, 2-4 FT, 9 rebounds (2 offensive), 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 7 turnovers, 35 minutes, +2
Folks, across those contests he averaged 25.3 points, 10.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 4.5 offensive rebounds, 1.0 steal and 4.5 turnovers in 35 minutes, shooting 47.8 percent from the field, 37.0 percent from three and 78.1 percent from the line.
Now, let’s compare that to the best games Kuminga ever had in the blue-and-gold uniform, at least via scoring. I searched Kuminga’s four biggest scoring regular season games as a Warrior and the rest of his counting stats averages for those games. We’re talking the best of JK!
Jan. 25, 2024 vs. Sacramento (L 134-133, bench): 31 points, 12-19 FG, 2-4 3PT, 5-6 FT, 3 rebounds (1 offensive), 3 assists, 2 steals, 0 blocks, 2 turnovers, 30 minutes, +16
Dec. 5, 2024 vs. Houston (W 99-93, started): 33 points, 13-22 FG, 3-6 3PT, 4-6 FT, 7 rebounds (1 offensive), 2 assists, 0 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers, 33 minutes, +7
Dec. 27, 2024 at Clippers (L 102-92, bench): 34 points, 11-19 FG, 1-3 3PT, 11-14 FT, 10 rebounds (4 offensive), 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers, 37 minutes, -5
Dec. 28, 2024 vs. Phoenix (W 109-105, bench): 34 points, 12-20 FG, 2-5 3PT, 8-12 FT, 9 rebounds (5 offensive), 3 assists, 1 steal, 0 blocks, 1 turnover, 34 minutes, +9
Across those four games he averaged 33.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.3 turnovers in 33.6 minutes, shooting 60.0 percent from the field, 44.4 percent from three and 73.7 percent from the line. The Warriors went 2-2.
Let’s just sum up that comparison of those arbitrary four game samples:
Points: Kuminga 33.0, Yaxel 25.3
Rebounds: Yaxel 10.8, Kuminga 7.3
Offensive rebounds: Yaxel 4.5, Kuminga 2.8
Assists: Yaxel 4.5, Kuminga 3.3
Steals: Kuminga 1.3, Yaxel 1.0
Blocks: Yaxel 0.8, Kuminga 0.5
Turnovers: Kuminga 2.3, Yaxel 4.5
Minutes: Yaxel 34.9, Kuminga 33.6
Field goal percentage: Kuminga 60.0%, Yaxel 47.8%
Three-pointers made: Yaxel 2.5 (on 6.8 attempts), Kuminga 2.0 (on 4.5 attempts)
Three-point percentage: Kuminga 44.4%, Yaxel 37.0%
Free throw attempts: Kuminga 9.5, Yaxel 8.0
Free throw percentage: Yaxel 78.1%, Kuminga 73.7%
True shooting: Kuminga 68.2%, Yaxel 60.8%
The moment I see the turnovers I know Yaxel is already getting a much longer leash than Kuminga ever did under Steve Kerr. That’s hella turnovers for a rookie on the same team as Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, but apparently Golden State believes that a player of Yaxel’s caliber needs to have the room to experiment and make mistakes.
When the Dubs drafted Kuminga they were trying to extend their dominance. When the Warriors picked Yaxel they had just lost to Dillon Brooks. Desperate times call for desperate measures?!
But last night, Kuminga scored 20 points of his own on 7-of-15 shooting, knocking down 50% of his six attempts from three, and adding 5 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals. In 20 minutes! This dude is finding his way in the wild NBA. It’s too bad he couldn’t find his way with the Dubs.
Bring on the Yaxel era.
P.S. last night Steph had 44 points; he’s still unguardable :).
Screening is a major difference in favor of Yax too.
Dubs never ran the offense through JK.
You can understand why they are willing to live with some painful turnover games from Yax. They clearly are trying to develop Yaxel into the Draymond offensive role (initiate the offense, pass, or just go to the rim).
Those tweets in the story conveniently forget that when JK got to the league, he could dribble twice in traffic, and then he had to pick the ball up.
Yax can dribble in traffic (not great, but better than many big guys), read a defense, and pass. JK has gotten better at all those things, but with 4 years of NBA experience and coaching under his belt, he's still not at Yax's level.
Plus, what are the options, if not Yax? It's still very much TBD to see if Gui or BW can scale their game up to a number 2 option behind Steph. Podz is who he is ... great, but not a number 1 guy. Beyond that, the offensive cupboard is pretty bare right now.