In today’s Dub Hub:
- In the latest episode of The Draymond Green Show, Draymond Green praised Jonathan Kuminga’s defensive impact in the Hawks-Knicks series.
- ESPN lists the Warriors as a hypothetical trade partner for Clippers star Kawhi Leonard.
- ESPN’s Shams Charania breaks down the NBA’s proposed lottery reform aimed at preventing tanking.
Draymond Green has always taken pride in his defensive mastery with the Golden State Warriors, down to the smallest details. His impact on that end has been generational—and it’s clearly rubbed off on others, including former teammate Jonathan Kuminga.
Now with the Atlanta Hawks, Kuminga made a heads-up defensive play in Game 2 of the team’s First Round Playoff series against the New York Knicks and gave Green a shoutout afterward.
Green returned the love during Monday’s episode of The Draymond Green Show, praising Kuminga’s growth and impact in Atlanta.
“I love [Jonathan Kuminga] to death. That’s my young fella and to see him out there doing what he’s doing defensively, playing his role on the offensive end, it’s a beautiful sight to see. I know what he’s capable of, and he’s capable of giving you more on the offensive end, but he’s playing his role. I think as the series goes on, he’s going to give you more on the offensive end. But even watching that last play in Game 3, where he guarded the guy, switched, stopped it, chased the guy over, knocked the ball away, ran it, like what can you do when a guy is doing that?”
Kuminga has flashed two-way impact throughout the first-round series against the Knicks. In Atlanta’s two wins, he totaled 40 points on 16-of-26 shooting from the field, three steals, and two blocks to showcase how effective he can be when everything clicks.
However, consistency—much like during his time with the Warriors—hasn’t always been there. He’s struggled from deep in the Hawks’ last two losses, shooting a combined 1-of-11 from three in Games 5 and 6 while scoring 10 and 13 points, respectively.
Still, Green doesn’t seem too concerned as the Hawks now face a 3-2 series deficit. He believes Kuminga will eventually bounce back—if not now, then next season with a full training camp under his belt.
“He’s been in Atlanta for three months, so the offensive role will grow. When you get a training camp under your belt, the offensive role will grow. But he’s doing what he has to do to stay on the floor, and I love to see it.”
For more on this and other news around the NBA, here is our latest news round-up for Wednesday, April 29th:
Warriors News:
Those hoping Steve Kerr leaves Warriors should be careful what they wish for | NBC Sports Bay Area
Kerr did some of his best work when the Warriors were most compromised by injury. His overall record is impressive in ways both overt and subtle. latent. More on that later.
Group 2, which seems smaller in number but is particularly vocal in the disaffected chamber of social media, has decided Kerr – who presided over teams that reached the NBA Finals in each of his first five seasons – has lost his touch or, worse, forgotten how to coach. Therefore, it is time for CEO Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy to recruit a replacement for Golden State. Someone they believe is more evolved in the ways of the NBA.
Kawhi Leonard trade: Four offers that could start a Clippers rebuild | ESPN
LA Clippers get:
Jimmy Butler III
2027 first-round pick (lottery-protected)
2032 first-round pickThe Warriors have been connected more to Leonard than any other team in recent months, and for good reason. After Butler tore his ACL in January, the Warriors need a Plan B if they want to try to reopen their competitive window while 38-year-old Stephen Curry is still playing at an All-Star level.
Leonard would be a strong fit as a Butler replacement, with even higher upside after the best regular season of his career. The salaries of the two stars match well enough that no other player would need to be included in this deal.
Steph Curry’s sneaker free agency auction raises $1.7 million for Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation
NBA News:
4 takeaways: Jalen Brunson stars, Hawks struggle shooting from 3 | NBA
The Hawks were a slightly better-than-average offensive team in the regular season, but they have scored an efficient 119.6 points per 100 possessions (sixth best) as they won 19 of their final 24 games.
In this series, they’ve scored just 106.9 per 100, the second worst mark for any team not involved in the Detroit-Orlando car crash. In four of the five games, the Hawks have scored well below league-average efficiency.
Some of that is some poor shooting from open 3-point shooters. The Knicks haven’t been perfect defensively.
But they’ve been very good. The Hawks had some success attacking Brunson down the stretch of Game 2, but Towns has passed the test. In fact, he had two terrific defensive plays against the Hawks’ two biggest offensive threats on Tuesday.
ESPN’s Shams Charania breaks down NBA’s proposed anti-tanking lottery changes
In case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:
NBA shares newest draft lottery proposal with general managers
Instead, the proposal would expand the lottery to include 16 teams, comprising the 10 teams that miss the Play-In Tournament, the two losers of each conference’s 7-8 play-in matchup, and the four 9-10 seeds. Rather than giving the most lottery balls to the worst teams, the system would instead most heavily favor teams with the 4th through 10th worst records in the league.
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