With how Tim Connelly shifted the entire Minnesota Timberwolves roster around to maximize Anthony Edwards, it's easy to see how high their ceiling should be.
Between LaMelo Ball and Edwards alone, they should have one of, if not the most dynamic offenses in the sport. Then they have Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels, who, by themselves, should be able to anchor a bare-minimum top-10 defense.
However, there is one more member of their starting lineup who may determine the entire season for the Wolves: Jonathan Kuminga. He has all the talent in the world to make the Wolves a championship contender. There's no question that there is a ton of volatility surrounding his game, though.
Kuminga can make or break the Wolves championship hopes
If Kuminga can quickly realize that on this team, he isn't going to be a 20-point scorer and he isn't going to be a main focal point of the offense, and if he's fine with that, then there shouldn't be any issues. He will still be a key figure in this team hitting its ceiling; it just won't necessarily be about scoring a ton of points.
His defense is going to need to be the best that we've seen in his career. Kuminga has all of the athletic tools to buy in on that end of the court and make a dynamic perimeter defense pairing with McDaniels. He's also been a strong rebounder throughout his career, and the Wolves will need that trend to continue given the pieces they lost in the front court this offseason.
To me, his swing skill is 3-point shooting. In his five seasons in the NBA, he's been a below-average 3-point shooter, only shooting above 35 percent once. He'll need to greatly improve his efficiency from behind the arc, especially if he's to play a lot of minutes next to a non-shooting big like Gobert or Joan Beringer.
I believe that this is the ecosystem for him to do that in. There is enough star power on the team that defenses won't always be keyed in on Kuminga's whereabouts. He'll have a lot of open looks, probably more than he's gotten in his career, but he will need to capitalize.
If Kuminga doesn't revert to the old habits that soured his relationship with Golden State and truly wants to contribute to winning basketball, then things should go smoothly in Minnesota. However, as much as I want to believe that, it's not a guarantee, and there's a world where things don't go as planned.
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