Mindaugas Kuzminskas is a Knick. But Who is He?
It has been a wild offseason for the European game, as this offseason has seen a near-record number of defections from Europe to the NBA. 2016 NBA draft picks will be headed over, like Dragan Bender and Ivica Zubac, as is customary. But in addition, Europe saw a slew of former draft-and-stash guys (like Dario Saric and Willy Hernangomez) come over. Then Malcolm Delaney, an American who has been playing in Russia, signed with the Hawks. In all, 10 former Euroleague players will be working in the NBA in 2016-2017.
One of those players totally flew under the radar. Between the draft picks and the draft-and-stash options, most of the former Euroleaguers turned NBA players are guys who were on the radar prior to signing. Even Delaney has been on the Upside & Motor radar for the past year. But when the New York Knicks signed Mindaugas Kuzminskas of Unicaja Malaga, it was a bit of a surprise. The 6’9″ forward from Lithuania went undrafted in 2011, and has been plying his trade at Zalgiris and Malaga since, without so much as a sniff from the NBA. But after a 2015-16 that saw him help Lithuania to a Silver medal in Eurobasket and Malaga to the Euroleague Top 16, the Knicks decided reach out and bring him over. The signing was rapid, and without much buildup or rumor that he was fielding other offers. So why did the Knicks decide to push forward with the Lithuanian?
Offense
Phil Jackson explained the signing last week, stating “We needed a mobile, agile 3 who had some ability to shoot [from] distance and spread the court.” When looking at Kuzminskas’ offensive game, that philosophy makes sense. Kuzminskas was the second-leading scorer for Malaga behind Nemanja Nedovic, averaging 11.0 points per game, but he isn’t exactly a big-time shot creator. Kuzminskas would instead prefer to get his baskets off of cuts and off-ball movement, at which he’s quite successful. Kuzminskas is a good slasher, and he’s highly adept at finding open areas in the defense, lingering until the ball swings and he can get an easy bucket:
Kuzminskas augments that slashing ability with sound finishing at the rim. He shot 59.6 percent on two-pointers in ACB action, and he had an eFG% of 54.8 percent for the season despite shooting below-average on threes. His lack of athleticism may prevent him from having the same effectiveness in the NBA (He’s not as quick as you’d like for the role), but when Jackson discusses Kuzminskas’s mobility, this is what he’s talking about.
Phil believes Kuzminskas can be a three-point shooter for the Knicks as well, but he’s been quite streaky throughout his career. Like many European shooters, Kuzminskas runs a bit hot and cold depending on the competition level. He shot 36.6 percent for Zalgiris in the LKL in 2013, but just 31.4 percent in the VTB league. Last year, he shot 30.9 percent in the ACB, but 37.7 percent in Euroleague.
Kuzminskas shoots well off the catch, and has NBA range. With his feet set, he can hit comfortably out to about 28 feet, and he shoots well against contests. The problem for him is when he has to get on the move, where he struggles to shoot upright. Kuzminskas has a slight fadeaway to his jumper, and that gets magnified when he’s on the move.
Kuzminskas will not do much on the ball in the NBA, even though Malaga would put him in the occasional pick-and-roll as the ball-handler. He’s a decent passer, but posted a very pedestrian 10.1 assist rate, and did turn the ball over at a higher rate (14.8 percent compared to 11.0 the year prior) when given more responsibility. Kuzminskas will likely play more off-ball, where he’s a good fit for the triangle. Kuzminskas can play the Derrick Williams role from last year, cutting along the baseline, spotting up from the corners, and working as the outlet for the offense. The Knicks may not run as much of that set with Jeff Hornacek as the coach, but he’s a good fit for when they do look to run it.
Defense
Kuzminskas has historically struggled on the defensive end, thanks to his lack of lateral quickness. He simply does not have the footspeed to contain quicker forwards, and he can get overwhelmed by more athletic guys when defending on ball. James White of Cedevita tore him apart, for example, and it’s not hard to imagine his relatively thin frame and lack of agility being a bad omen against guys like Paul George and Rudy Gay.
However, that doesn’t mean he will be unplayable defensively. Kuzminskas has good length, and he’s a smart positional defender, even if he struggles to overcome screens and post ups physically. He posted a 2.2 percent block rate and 1.7 percent steal rate this year, which also shows that he has the potential to use his length to create havoc plays.
Smarts and length will help on the defensive end, but Kuzminskas is going to have some major problems here. That lack of quickness will likely preclude him from playing any sort of major role for New York, but this Knicks team is geared up to be far more offensively competent than defensively, so this will be far from an individual issue.
Overall Role
Kuzminskas was a bit of a surprise grab for the Knicks, but he’s a player I can actually see fitting well within what New York wants to do. If they run the triangle, he is a solid fit for the baseline cutter role, where he can slash and spot up by design. If they don’t, it’s still not hard to see him moving around off of Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose, taking advantage of the gravity those two provide with the ball in their hands to find holes in the defense to camp. Defensive limitations will limit him to probably no more than 10-12 minutes per game, but in bench-heavy units, he should have a role. Kuzminskas isn’t a Linsanity candidate to break out in New York, but there’s enough here to believe he can be a rotation player, despite his lack of ideal pedigree.