MINNEAPOLIS — After a ragged yet much-needed win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch said that newly acquired forward Jonathan Kuminga is playing the “perfect role.”
“When we were really struggling to rebound there, kind of in the second quarter… (Kuminga) made it a point to really go hunt the ball, and that was big for us. He just continues to play the perfect role.”
Known for his prowess as a shot-creator and scorer, the Timberwolves signed Kuminga to play a role that necessitates almost everything but ball dominance. They’ve asked him to defend at a high level, and oftentimes be a spot-up shooter from the corner.
Against Milwaukee, Kuminga scored just eight points, but racked up 10 boards, while rejecting four shots.
“He's really letting things come to him,” said Finch. “I got to find ways now that we are down some bodies to maybe get him some advantage looks, but he's just kind of doing everything that we need to do, and a lot of it in a timely manner.”
Kuminga these boards will not go unnoticed pic.twitter.com/GVhZHbHVzm
— momo (@1momo1__) November 3, 2026
While he hasn’t necessarily been the robust off-the-dribble, shot creator that he once projected to be, the Republic of Congo native has still been extremely productive and valuable offensively, particularly shooting from long range. Kuminga is 15 for 32 from deep through his first eight games in Minnesota, shooting at a near 47 percent clip from beyond the arc.
Article Continues Below“All I gotta do is go out there and win games, somehow, just figure it out, just go out there, and win games,” Kuminga said during training camp, when asked about the role he plans to take on with his new team. “If it's playing defense, if it's not taking a shot, if it's being the one running the floor for other people so they could get easy buckets… those small things, I feel like, it's hard to do smallest things. But those small things, those the ones that help us win games.”
As the Timberwolves look to stay afloat without superstar Anthony Edwards, it's clear Finch likes what he's seeing from the 24-year-old forward, as Minnesota would be “lost” without him at this point.
“We'd be lost without him right now, for sure,” said Finch.