One of the most promising aspects of Jonathan Kuminga's fit with the Minnesota Timberwolves is the pairing of him and LaMelo Ball. During his introductory press conference, Kuminga praised Ball's passing ability, noting that it's what excites him most about playing with LaMelo.
“I think his ability to pass the ball, I was watching him work out yesterday and I was watching him and the way he can pass the ball, it’s incredible," Kuminga said. "I’ve played with so many point guards in my career, but I’ve never played with anybody that can pass as good as LaMelo. I’m looking forward to it, I’m excited."
This quote makes it clear that Kuminga knows Ball is a special playmaker. In turn, playing with LaMelo will make life easier for Kuminga and help maximize his offensive impact.
LaMelo Ball's playmaking can maximize Jonathan Kuminga
LaMelo thrives playing alongside athletic forwards like Miles Bridges, and Kuminga fits the mold perfectly. It's fair to have some gripes with Kuminga's shot selection. Thankfully, Ball's world-class playmaking will help ensure that Kuminga is fed easy shots around the basket or gives him an easy advantage to attack. In other words, this will shift Kuminga away from creating for himself and help him shift toward being a play-finisher.
Ball truly makes everyone around him better, and despite his gifts as a scorer, his playmaking is LaMelo's biggest strength. It was clear throughout his career with the Charlotte Hornets that he made his teammates better, but no season highlighted it more than last year.
Charlotte's offense was 11.6 points per 100 possessions better with Ball on the court, per Cleaning the Glass. Furthermore, several key Hornets players shot much better with Ball on the court: Kon Knueppel shot 10.3 percent better from 3-point land and Miles Bridges' true shooting percentage improved by 9.1 percent with LaMelo on the court, according to Databallr.
The Bridges shift is especially important to note regarding Kuminga, given their similarities as players. Whether it's getting out in transition or finding easy looks in the half-court, the evidence is clear: LaMelo makes life easier for an athletic forward with Kuminga's skill set.
One counter could be: Kuminga played with Steph Curry and couldn't make it work; who cares? I get the point to some extent; Curry has unmatched gravity as a shooter and opens up the court for his teammates.
Still, Curry doesn't directly feed his teammates open shots in the way that LaMelo does, and he mainly helps elevate perimeter-centric players. Moreover, the Golden State Warriors' offensive system wasn't a good fit for Kuminga since it forced all players to make complex reads as playmakers.
With the Wolves, though, Kuminga's strengths can be amplified, and his weaknesses can be covered up (assuming he doesn't try to hijack the offense as a creator).
If everything goes right, Kuminga will thrive as an athletic play-finisher who occasionally creates for himself. Having a player like this paired with the dynamic backcourt of Ball and Edwards can make the Timberwolves a handful for opposing defenses.
Without a doubt, LaMelo will play a major role in maximizing Kuminga's offensive skill set and overall fit with the Timberwolves.
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