There is an art to A$$ kissing that some people get by their entire lives on. Highly developed skill it would appear. Not on the left side, not on the right side but in the groove...lol.
He’ll get in the training camp, impress everyone like Kurt Rambis did in 1981, and get the starting power forward spot in the season opener
Kaluma is impressive. The more you watch the more you see. JJ has some decisions to make. It would be amazing to be able to watch all of training camp and have video of practices. See what JJ sees.
Ok time to talk about this guy seriously. Haven't seen him yet bar highlights. So he's a big forward and can shoot. Any other relevant trait? And more importantly, what can't he do that he should?
I really liked what I saw about him in SL Hope it translates to the bigs Nice to have 3 young talented guys with lots of potential on the team Now it's up to the staff to develop them, work on their short comings and keep them in shape mentally and physically
We have closed the talent and athleticism gap significantly in a very short time. Kaluma was a nice addition and Adou is an explosion waiting to happen. Carr is a future starter and possible star. Others as well, we are loaded. It gets repetitive in a very good way to keep listing our riches.
maybe defend nba-level perimeter players in space? i pessimistically saw him as a smaller naz reid, but i could be convinced that he's a robert covington type. not sure i agree with raj that he fits exactly what we need (i think the forward opposite luka needs to be quick), but i think there's a route to him being a useful player for us soon. the wild optimist in me would point to guys like danniss jenkins, who went from nothing to key contributor on a 60-win team overnight.
In the summer league recap video I posted in the SL thread where Buha had Garcia back on, Garcia dropped a Spencer Jones comp for Kaluma (around the 32 min marker). I think he's a 4 who can slide down to a 3, depending on matchup like Covington (abeer's mention) could when he was younger and still had the athleticism. The lil-Naz comp is out there a lot. I don't see that as much, maybe some of the shooting above the break but that's mainly it for me. I think Naz is a 5 who can play the 4. Kaluma slides his feet better, quicker hands, twitchier and uses his size differently. Naz is an enormous human being at 260+ and he uses that on both ends.
I think Kaluma is a little slow to guard 3’s and a little small to guard 5’s. But he could be a decent 4 that defends with effort and hits the 3. He is competing with Adou, LaRavia, Ziaire, Thybulle for time.
right; same problem with lebron next to luka. you need someone with ample quickness to guard 3s/rotate across the floor in team defensive schemes. i'm rooting for him and think he's an nba player, but maybe not for our team in our situation.
It’s a bit of a larger problem of the roster. Luka can guard 4’s but you don’t want him guarding a good one. So who then? Thybulle, Ziaire and Grimes are all 1-3 Vando can do it, but he won’t get playing time Adou isn’t ready to start the season Jake is the best bet, but he’s kind of a 9th guy on a good team piece Kuminga is a really good option in that sense (provided by in)
Most teams won’t iso 4s on offense, and if they play their sf up a spot, that’s one fewer big body to contend with Luka on the other end. but yes, this is why I’ve been obsessed with getting Kuminga—theoretically, he can guard either forward spot effectively (like vando) without being a total zero on offense.
Yeah, this is precisely what we would need him for. Kaluma is argueably a better fit than Kuminga, if you don't mind the steep dropoff in athleticsim. Kaluma provides a good combination of shooting, rebounding, general scoring, defensive verastility, and solid defense vs. 4's.
