Young, disgruntled athlete may provide huge opportunity for Spurs trade

Jonathan Kuminga could form a massive wing duo with Jeremy Sochan

The appeal of trading for Kuminga is simple: between him and Jeremy Sochan, the Spurs would have a pair of jumbo-sized wings to compliment Victor Wembanyama as Wemby continues to redefine how we view the center position. Adding Kuminga to the mix would round out the Spurs' roster of young, promising players and leave only the future of the point guard position up in the air.

It sounds good in theory, but fans should rightly question if Kuminga and Sochan could coexist in the starting lineup. Their fit in the frontcourt isn't quite as seamless as that of other wing duos like Paul George and Kawhi Leonard or Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, but I think the Spurs could find a way to make it work.

Where Kuminga's first instinct is to attack, Sochan's is to facilitate. Even if the Spurs have temporarily given up on the point-Sochan experiment, his future on this team leans more toward playmaking than it does scoring. In Kuminga, the Spurs would have another big-bodied scorer who could impact the game at every level.

If the Spurs are going to make a move for Kuminga, they'll have to be pretty confident in the growth that both he and Sochan will have to show as three-point shooters. Both of them are on their way, but neither of them is a consistent threat from deep quite yet.

Sochan is improving—he's up to 37 percent from behind the arc this season after shooting just 25 percent from deep last year—but needs to show he can hit from distance consistently before he can command the attention of the defense when he gets the ball behind the three-point line. Meanwhile, after being a respectable 37 percent three-point shooter last year, Kuminga has struggled to connect on even 28 percent of his long-range attempts this season.

We've all seen what Victor Wembanyama can do, even within the confines of the Spurs' lack of reliable three-point shooting. Just imagine the kind of offensive onslaught he could display if he was surrounded by shooters who forced the defense to pull players out of the paint. If the Spurs aren't confident that Kuminga can help bring that vision to life then they should pause and consider if this is a trade they should be making.