Some Warriors coaches reportedly didn’t prefer Jonathan Kuminga in 2021 draft

As the Jonathan Kuminga free-agency saga continues with the Warriors, it was revealed that some within the organization reportedly would have preferred to select a different player with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. “A few” members of the Warriors’ coaching staff voiced a preference to draft eventual Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner instead of Kuminga, but Golden State owner Joe Lacob was the “driving force” behind selecting the Congolese forward, ESPN’s Anthony Slater and Shams Charania reported, citing sources, in a piece published Monday. Wagner was drafted one pick later by Orlando with the No. 8 selection. “Lacob has remained a staunch Kuminga supporter and vocal believer in his long-term future,” Slater and Charania wrote. “He voiced an unwillingness to include Kuminga in a proposed trade from Chicago for Alex Caruso a couple of seasons back, sources said, and was still glowing about Kuminga’s performance in May after he rose from out of Steve Kerr’s first-round rotation to the team’s leading scorer in the second-round loss to...