Draymond Green picks polarizing former Warriors player as biggest NBA draft miss originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
As with any other NBA team, the Warriors have had their fair share of draft hits and misses over the years.
For instance, Golden State hit the jackpot by selecting Steph Curry with the No. 7 overall pick of the 2009 NBA Draft, while it missed with the No. 2 selection of the 2020 NBA Draft by picking center James Wiseman.
Warriors star Draymond Green, however, revealed which player he would consider the biggest draft miss in recent history.
“I’ll take it as a miss because it didn’t work, but I still think this guy has the potential to become a star in this league,” Green said on Yahoo! Sports’ “The Kevin O’Connor Show.”
“I was super on the train of drafting Jonathan Kuminga. I still don’t think it’s a miss because number one, watch what he did in these playoffs off of two months with [a new] organization and to have the playoffs he had. I think that’s the start of something. Number two, that’s my little brother, and the relationship is tight.
“And so, if nothing else, I’m appreciative, and that means the world to me. But number three, it just didn’t work in Golden State. It didn’t work. It wasn’t the best fit for him. And so, I’d have to say that’s my miss… but miss from the standpoint of ultimately it didn’t work and now he’s trying to and will figure it out, I think, in Atlanta. It didn’t work out for us, but I still think JK can be an All-Star.”
The Warriors selected Kuminga with the No. 7 overall pick of the 2021 NBA Draft. While the 23-year-old showed a lot of promise, averaging 16.1 points per game during the 2023-24 season, Kuminga had a highly tumultuous time in Golden State.
From his lack of playing time to his poor fit in Warriors coach Steve Kerr’s system, Kuminga could not reach his full potential in Golden State, which led to an inevitable trade to the Atlanta Hawks in early February.
With the Hawks, Kuminga averaged 12.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game in 16 regular-season contests, and 13.7 points per game in six playoff appearances.
Although it did not work out with the Warriors, Kuminga still has an opportunity to flourish in Atlanta, especially being on a team that is on the rise to become a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference.
With a full offseason ahead of him after receiving the fresh start he desperately needed, Kuminga is in a prime position to change the trajectory of his young NBA career.
